Running Up That Hill
by Late Night Iridescence
Summary: Who says women can't be King? Whether she's driving Ace half mad or taking the Grand Line by storm, Monkey D. Luffy will prove herself worthy of that fiercely sought title despite her gender. But her journey doesn't end there. FemLuffy AceLu ZoLu ShanLu
1. growing pains

Pairings: Ace/Luffy, Zoro/Luffy (later)

Word Count: 3770

Rating: PG-15 for swearing, boobs, and surprisingly successful flirting on Luffy's part

**Warning**: Girl puberty! Not explicit, but it's a major part of this chapter. Mostly Ace just freaks out a lot.

Let me say one thing before you start reading. There will be three main pairings - Ace/Luffy, Zoro/Luffy, and Luffy/a surprise (:p) but this is NOT a competition fic. They all live in harmony. I plan on addressing the issue in later chapters, but I just wanted to make sure you understand that there will be no angst and no fighting for Luffy's affections. Luffy is Luffy and he loves everyone equally, mkay? Most of you realize Ace will be taken out of the picture anyway. *unhappy grumble*

Oh, and there will be elements of Luffy/everyone, like Luffy/Nami, Luffy/Usopp, Coby/Luffy ect. that aren't really relevant to the story. More details as I get to those chapters.

Title from song of the same name. I've only ever heard Placebo's cover, but it's an excellent one. Go listen!

1 - growing pains

When Luffy was little, before Shanks - but not before the desire for a future of piracy - Makino would read bedtime stories about kings and queens, princes and princesses. Luffy wondered if they ever got bored, those queens and princesses, forced to live in locked towers until some _man_ decided they needed rescuing."Why don't they save themselves? All you gotta do is punch out the witch or dragon or whatever!" Luffy thrust a fist towards Makino's face in demonstration.

"Because most women don't have the strength to fight giant monsters," she answered, and when Luffy pouted in protest, hurried to add, "I've yet to meet a man who did either, other than your grandfather."

Sitting around for years with nothing to do but sing and only birds for company sounded like no fun at all, and that very night Luffy swore to never ever be anyone's queen.

Then Shanks sailed into their lives, bringing with him the smell of the sea and excitement and wild tales about Gold Roger the Pirate King. Luffy listened with wide eyes; they were stories filled with high adventure and higher seas, and sometimes people needed rescuing, but they refused to go down without a fight or weep in despair like the helpless maidens in Makino's book.

When Shanks beat down a sea monster with his _eyes_, sacrificing his arm in the process, Luffy made an unshakable promise - to get stronger than Shanks himself, to gather the greatest crew the world had ever seen and become the next Pirate King.

Luffy wouldn't let being born a girl stop her.

* * *

It ends like any other day; Sabo is smiling, Luffy is laughing at the hilarious but age inappropriate joke about Dadan's under things, Ace is watching them from a short distance away with mouth quirked, and all of them are bleeding and bruised from a tough encounter with their dinner. He's certain Luffy doesn't get anything beyond the surface jibe and when Sabo meets his eyes Ace sees the other boy knows it too.

As usual Luffy has born the brunt of his inexperience, not only battered but covered from head to toe in a foul brown substance Ace isn't entirely sure is mud. He and Sabo aren't much better off, legs drenched in the muck where they'd been forced to wade in after their wayward third. He can't remember Luffy, or any of them, ever in such desperate need of a soak.

Dadan had taken one look at the filthy boys and told them to stay the hell outside while she filled the tub.

Now she threw the door open and herded them inside, snagging Luffy by his tank and carrying him ahead to minimize the mess. Dadan stayed long enough to make sure they wiped the worst of the grime away with spare towels and left them to it, grumbling about the horrible revenge she'd take on Garp _one of these days_ for his generous gift of disgusting brats.

Luffy carefully peels the tank over his head, doing his best to stop the gross stuff from dripping on his head and taking so long Ace and Sabo are already in the bath by the time he tosses it to the floor with a plop. And when his pants follow after Ace is too busy piling bubbles on Sabo's hair in a wonky imitation of his top hat to notice.

It's only when Luffy is climbing in beside them that Ace realizes there's something very, very wrong here - the kid is missing a few extremely important parts.

Because _he _is a _she_.

Later, he'll deny the shrill shriek his friends will ridicule him mercilessly for. But right now Ace is cowering in the corner and clutching a towel across his front like, well, a girl. He's never been all that great around women - Makino is proof enough of that - and a naked one is too strange, even if it _is_ Luffy.

Sabo's eyebrows are crawling dangerously high on his forehead. The look Ace receives states quite clearly that he has gone completely apeshit and Sabo would appreciate an explanation, thanks very much. Ace gestures weakly at where Luffy has frozen with one leg half in the tub to gape at Ace's sudden crazy. Sabo turns and finally understands what has their infamously rough leader peeking between his fingers in terror.

"That's unexpected," he says, and eases Luffy back out of the water, draping a towel across her shoulders. The display is an empty one. She doesn't bother holding it closed.

"What's going on?" Luffy glances at Ace, confused. "Why is Ace acting like a weirdo?"

"You're the weirdo," he grumbles.

"What Ace _means_ to say is that we didn't know you were a girl and it's a bit of a shock. He's just overreacting." Sabo's expression is quelling enough that Ace bites back the sharp retort and decides to leave him to it. He'll stay quiet in this nice, warm corner.

"So what if I'm a girl? I wanna take a bath and get this stinky junk off!"

"It isn't proper for boys and girls to bathe together, Luffy. We'll let you go first if that's what you want, but we shouldn't share -"

"No!" Luffy grabs Sabo's arm, lower lip trembling ever so slightly. "Grandpa said I can't go in the tub by myself 'cus I might drown. Please let me share with you!"

Ace can tell Sabo is going to cave. He always _was_ weak to Luffy's begging face.

As predicted, Sabo stares into her wide, shining eyes and says, "This once will be okay."

Luffy cheers, leaping into the bath and sending water splashing over everything, even washing away the stupid bubble hat. Sabo props her against the side for safety's sake and sets about scrubbing grime out of her hair. Ace stays in his corner, determined to wait out the insanity, until Luffy aims her pleading gaze at him - she looks ridiculous with her eyes surrounded by froth and it should be easy to resist, but -Ace gets in the damn bath.

Nothing changes. Luffy is still Luffy, getting into trouble and needing rescuing and swearing to get stronger, smiling brightly all the while. She collects beetles, picks fights, stands up and defends them from degrading insults - especially those aimed at Ace's father, though he isn't sure her reasons for protecting Roger's name are entirely altruistic.

Ace is relieved. He's _finally_ found a good thing and if he loses it now…

He doesn't think about it.

Ace gets the idea in his head to bind Luffy and Sabo to him with a half bullshit exchange he'd seen in bars frequented by pirates and other riff-raff of the seas, a sharing of sake to symbolize eternal ties. When Sabo has a close brush with the past he'd rather not remember, Ace decides now is as suitable a time as ever; he forgets himself, declares them brothers despite Luffy's lack of manhood, and either she doesn't care or didn't notice. Ace doesn't bother correcting his mistake.

They keep bathing together after that, all three of them (and then Sabo…_Sabo_), until Luffy turns eleven.

Everything changes.

* * *

Ace is pretty sure this is what going insane feels like. He's been searching relentlessly for five goddamn hours and he _still_ can't find Luffy. How is it Ace can never find her when he needs too? Luffy's so far from sneaky he can't stand it sometimes, especially when they're trying to hunt particularly skittish prey, and yet he's failing to catch even a hint of her whereabouts.

When she'd disappeared that morning, shoving aside her still full plate to take off without so much as a 'see you later', Ace had been worried. Luffy, not hungry? If Hell hadn't frozen over he'd be shocked. He hadn't gone after her right away; Luffy was strong enough to fight nearly every creature on the mountain, alone. But when she didn't come back for lunch, or even dinner, unease stirred Ace into now he's racing the setting sun to find his troublesome sister. Ace isn't a big fan of the mountains at night, not when there are worse predators than bears on the prowl. Not when dumb, trusting Luffy is out by herself.

He fails. The next morning, Ace stumbles into Dadan's hideout looking as wired as he feels, asking softly, one hand wrapped white-knuckled around his pipe, if _anyone_ had seen Luffy. Receiving only hasty head shakes from pale and terrified men, he tries not to picture Luffy drowning in a river or called Ace's name in desperation as she's hauled away to slavedom by pirates. The images whip him into a frenzied search that leaves half the forest wrecked.

It's evening when he spots Luffy, curled up tight in a cavern of sprawling tree roots. Ace is ready to drag her out and give her a thumping to rival the old man's fist of love until he notices she's trembling.

"Are you hurt?" Ace thinks maybe _he _is the one who's hurt when Luffy shrinks away from his touch as if burned.

"Go away! I don't want you here," she says. Even with her face buried against her knees, he can hear that she's been crying. What the hell was going on?

Since Luffy won't come out, Ace eases himself through a gap in the roots to sit beside her. "If you don't tell me what's wrong, I can't help. C'mon. Whatever it is can't be that bad."

"Really?" Luffy scrubs her wet cheeks and meets his gaze, eyes puffy. "You won't get mad?"

"Of course not."She lays against Ace, tucking her fingers into the crook his elbow before drawing a deep, stuttery breath. Her face is feverish. "I woke up yesterday feeling funny. Not hungry. Then my stomach hurt like I needed to pee really bad but I didn't and then the bleeding started!" Ace squashes the urge to grab Luffy and check her over - letting her finish is the best thing right now. "Only a little at first, but then more and more came out and wouldn't stop. It's still going even now! It _hurts_, Ace."

"Luffy," he says slowly, stringing the word out as he tries to gather enough courage to ask what he really, really doesn't want to. "Where are you bleeding?"

"Here." Just as Ace is absolutely fucking horrified she would, Luffy spreads her legs. There's a dark stain on the crotch of her shorts.

"Oh _shit_," he says, and somehow manages not to pass glances up at Ace, worried by the strained tone of his voice. Screw that he hadn't slept or eaten or even sat down in over thirty-two hours - Luffy has no idea what's happening to her. He needs to calm down and deal.

"Okay." Ace hooks his arms beneath Luffy's body, lifting her bridal style. "Okay. We're going to see Makino."

"Why?""Because I'm not gonna be much use in this, Luffy. It's a girl thing."

"What about Dadan?"Ace winces at how awkward the bandit would get about _this_; exactly what he wants to avoid. "Makino is the better choice, but we can go to Dadan if you'd like."

"Nu-uh." Luffy is quick to shake her head. "I wanna see Makino."They go home just long enough for Luffy to change her clothes before setting out for Fuusha. Ace carries her on his back this time, leaving his hands free in case of emergencies - as it is he only needs to beat the crap out of one horde of rambunctious crocs on the way - but by the time forest gives way to the open fields of their destination, the last strip of sunlight is being swallowed by the sea.

He's glad for it. Ace would like to draw as little attention to them as possible, not wanting to be stopped by villagers who recognize Luffy and want to know where she's been the last four years."Luffy, where exactly is Makino's bar?"

"There," she mutters sleepily, pointing with one sloppy finger in a vague that-a-way direction. Ace scowls at how useless Luffy's being but immediately feels guilty. For the next few days, he'd cut her some slack. Perhaps a break from training would do them both good.

He ends up outside the bar with minimum backtracking. Peering though the closest window confirms that the tables are crowded by weekenders looking to celebrate the end of what he presumes was a boring week of work. But there's a back door, and Ace is pleased to discover the knob turns freely.

"Hello?" he calls, sticking his head inside to see a tiled kitchen practically gleaming with cleanliness. It's the kind of place that has Ace feeling unsteady. He snatches his dirt encrusted hands from where they'd been braced on the wall."Ace, is that you?" Makino stands in the doorway adjoining her bar and the kitchen, surprise etched across her face. She gasps when she sees Luffy hanging from his shoulders. "What happened?"

"Er…t-that's…Luffy, you tell her!" Magnanimity vanishing in the face of sure embarrassment, Ace peels the rubber girl from his back and drops her, hoping the shock will snap Luffy out of her daze.

She lays on the floor for several seconds, blinking up at him. Confused but not hurt, Luffy cranes her head to take a bleary look around and almost bounces to her feet when she sees Makino watching them with tolerant amusement. She flings herself into the barkeeper's arms.

"Makinoooooo! I'm bleeding and Ace says you know why."

The woman observes Ace's reddening cheeks, the way Luffy is being uncharacteristically clingy, and understands at once. "Why don't we go upstairs, Luffy? We need to have a talk."

"Okay." Makino disappears into the other room, presumably to get someone to man the bar while she and Luffy had their 'talk'. Just as they're leaving Ace's stomach grumbles deafeningly.

"Help yourself to the fridge!" The old woman waves at the gently humming appliance.

Ace remembers to stutter out a thank you. With nothing else to pass the time, he yanks open the refrigerator to dig out the fixings: ham, cheese, pickles, mayo, ketchup, mustard. He cuts eight slices from the loaf of bread he finds in a cabinet and slowly assembles his bounty into the most perfect sandwiches anyone's ever seen.

How much time had passed? How long did it take to explain _that_? Forever, knowing Luffy.

Sighing in weary resignation, Ace sets about nibbling his dinner, pulling away the crusts to eat separately. Somewhere between one bite and the next, he must've fallen asleep; Ace snaps awake to Makino's voice echoing down the stairs and half a sandwich plastered to his face.

By the time Luffy and Makino reappear, Ace is clean and doing his best to look as non-narcoleptic as possible, but apparently he fails at even that. Luffy swipes a finger across a damp spot he hadn't noticed, licking it clean."You slept in your food again. Stupid Ace!" She snickers at him, and Ace almost sighs in relief. If Luffy is feeling better then they can get on with their lives and pretend this never happened.

"There's one more thing," Makino says, handing Ace a brown paper sack. He opens it only to stare dully at the assortment of paper wrapped objects inside. Ace staunchly ignores the tube-shaped ones and where they might _go. _"Please hang on to these for her, you know how forgetful Luffy can be."

"I'm standing right here, you guys!"

"U-um, alright." Ace rolls the bag closed, resolving not to open it again. takes Luffy's hand and drags her away from the bar with all due speed, afraid that if they linger even a minute longer Makino will continue on about other mortifying _stuff_. On the way back, Luffy gets hungry - they hunt those same rambunctious crocodiles and decide to camp out beneath the stars.

Later, when they're uncomfortably full and Ace is drifting off to the tranquil lullaby of the mountain, Luffy suddenly breaks the silence. "Makino said this is really hard for guys." She tugs at the hem of his shirt until he turns to face her. "Thanks for putting up with me."

"It's not a big deal," he says, hoping against hope she won't choose get mushy. Luffy made an excellent companion except when the outspoken, straightforward aspect of her personality compelled her to talk about their _feelings_.

"Mmm," she agrees, and just when Ace thinks he's been let off easy, Luffy goes on to say, "Let's take a bath together when we get home. I'm all sweaty."

"_Absolutely not_."

"Eh, why?"

"Because you're growing up! Hell, we should have stopped sharing baths years ago - Sabo was right when he said it was inappropriate."

"You don't mean it," Luffy huffs, setting her back to he holds firm. Luffy gets mad and throws the tub at him, doesn't speak to him for three days, but ultimately forgives him she like always does. They move on.

Then Luffy's body changes. Develops.

Ace is screwed.

* * *

It's subtle the first year. Luffy's growth is more about height and strength than anything…_feminine_. Ace respects how far she's come since they first met, when Luffy depended on he and Sabo for safety - now she's capable of dancing toe to toe with him for prolonged periods of harsh sparring.

Ace hasn't lost yet. He can't _let_ himself lose to Luffy because he's the older brother, and no matter how strong she gets Ace wants to protect her. Even if _she_ doesn't want him to. Need him to. Even though she'll eventually sail the seas without him.

Ace secretly fears it; that Luffy will become distant as her power and body mature. But as time passes his sister shows no sign of separating herself from him, doesn't even seem interested in moving out of their tree house in search of privacy. Luffy is happy. Ace is happy.

The suddenness takes him by surprise. Luffy turns thirteen and it's as if a hidden switch is thrown - her hips round (not enough. Makino's hand-me-downs are loose where they should cling, so she continues wearing boy clothes), she's slender instead of lanky, and worst of all - her chest _evolves_.

All of this is forcefully hammered home when Ace walks in on Luffy getting dressed.

They've established a pattern: Ace wakes up first, goes out to hunt for breakfast even if that just means a short walk to Dadan's place. When he comes back Luffy is ready for the day and eager to eat whatever it is Ace brings home. She's so blissfully distracted by food she never thinks to question his motives. Not that she has a reason! Ace isn't being purposely sneaky to avoid awkward situations or anything like that.

Maybe Luffy gets up late. Maybe he takes less time than he thought. But Ace is honestly surprised when he climbs into the tree and Luffy is standing there, naked from the waist up.

"There's scrambled eg-" Ace nearly drops the food laden tray as his brain fully registers the sight of all that bare skin and fizzles out. It's hard to process, if Ace is honest with himself, a situation he's been trying so very hard to steer clear of. While there are the customary bruises smeared against Luffy's skin, the rest of her is almost perfect. A tan lighter then you'd expect of someone outside literally all hours of the day blends with the paler skin usually hidden beneath her clothes. And hanging out in the open are -

They're a secret Ace _really _should not be seeing, knows he should look away from, but the shock temporarily paralyzes his common sense; small but perky, round and perfectly firm. Luffy had snubbed bras as unnecessary and annoying. He can see now that she was right to - her rubber-cursed chest is flawlessly bouncy.

"Ace?" Luffy is suddenly in his face, her own tight with concern. "You're all red and gapey and swaying. Are you catching a cold?" She pushes herself up on tip toe to touch their foreheads together. It's an innocent gesture. She's simply trying to check his temperature.

Ace is not aware of anything but how that perfect chest is touching his. Every ounce of concentration has shifted to focus on the incredibly soft feel of her curves against his bare skin. How could a part of Luffy - wild, careless, _tough_ Luffy - be so damn supple? They squish against him like marshmallows, and the urge to _squeeze_ becomes too much. Luffy is saying something, asking him a question, but he doesn't hear it and doesn't reply. He just takes her by the shoulders and moves her out of his personal space. That he lets go is a huge display of willpower, and Ace is feeling numbly proud of himself until he remembers he's still standing within reach. It hurts to jump down and escape into the forest.

He stays out late that night even though he can hear Luffy's faint calling, waiting until the moon is high over head before he dares approach the tree house again. Luffy is already sleeping. Instead of doing the correct thing, instead of packing up and building a new place to sleep Ace sits and wonders what the hell he's going to do now.

It only gets worse. Luffy is more affectionate than ever, clinging to Ace's arms or neck to hug him close, begging for piggyback rides with pouty lips he can't ignore and mindlessly rubbing their legs together when they sit until Ace is sure his new eye tick is permanent.

Someone - god bless and damn them to the lowest level of hell - convinces Luffy that bikinis are super fun. Their next visit to the beach is an excruciating tease as she frolics in the surf, breasts heaving and the gentle swell of her ass on display. The hormonal rush is heady, addicting; he steals the scarring bathing suit and burns it that very night. Strangely enough, Luffy only searches for it briefly before smiling in a disturbingly satisfied way and giving up.

It gets to the point where Ace isn't looking at anything but Luffy. There are reckless moments he swears Luffy looks back, if only she wasn't his heartbreakingly innocent sworn sibling.

Luffy celebrates her fourteenth birthday.

Ace's every notion of her naivety is not so much destroyed as ripped to shreds and sent up in smoke.

* * *

A/N - I feel no shame in leaving it there because the second part is already written. Originally the two chapters where one and the same, but then it reached 8600 words and I had a serious wtf moment.

I'll try and update every two weeks, but NaNoWriMo is going on right now, I'm taking a trip to the Bahamas (leaving today, back in a few days), and I'm also in college. So no promises.

Another note about the story itself - this fic has pretty much no plot. Only in the last few chapters will you start to see anything resembling storyline. In the meantime it's all just Luffy and his gender related hijinks.

But I seriously doubt you guys are reading for the plot. Pervs! xD

Next chapter: Luffy and Ace _finally_ make out, and Luffy gets a lesson in condoms. Not necessarily in that order.


	2. growing pains II

Pairings (this chapter): Ace/Luffy

Word Count: 3785

Rating: PG-16 for swearing and the birds 'n bees

**Warning**: This chapter is really kinda pushing the T rating, but since there isn't anything too explicit I'm leaving it as is.

2 - growing pains (round two)

Luffy had thought it would pass, this strange desire to be close to Ace, constantly so. Yet days turned to weeks and Ace didn't stop staring and Luffy didn't _want_ him to stop. The heaviness in his dark gaze made her heart pound. It felt almost like when she was ready for a fight, the hot flash of blood in her brain and gasping for air through lips wet from flitting swipes of tongue, but she doesn't want to hit him. Luffy longs for Ace to touch her - anywhere, any way he'd like.

But Luffy doesn't understand _why_. Why is it such a different feeling from when they were younger, why her body yearns like it does, why Ace isn't _doing_ anything about it. She hopes being near him will quench the longing, that if she clings to Ace or hugs him more this heat will lessen. Increasing contact between them does nothing but make it worse - she'll catch those black eyes watching her lips, and lick them to ease the tingle. It gets better if she applies pressure, running her thumb against the throb. Again, it's not what Luffy's looking for. Her own touch isn't satisfying.

It's Ace's lips she needs. Luffy craves them. But she still isn't sure _why_.

The tension builds as Ace stares and stares but does nothing else and Luffy gets fed up with playing a game with rules she doesn't know anything about. Annoyed beyond her - admittedly limited - patience, Luffy decides to seek out a little advice from the person who knows everything.

Luffy pays Makino a visit.

Ace is funny for sneaking in the back; she walks through the front door and into the mostly empty bar. Midday is a slow time - there are only two people to glance up in surprise as Luffy plops onto a stool at the counter.

Makino pauses in her cleaning, _not_ laughing at the outrageous expressions of shock her customers were sporting. "It's been a while since I've seen you, Luffy."

"Not that long. Dadan still has some sake from your last visit. She says it's the best!"

"Hold on," one man interrupts. The guy next to him has beer leaking from his open mouth. "That's really Luffy? Tiny, rubbery Luffy?"

"Yep!" Luffy stretches her cheeks, just in case they don't believe her.

"…You're a girl."

She blinks at them. "I was always a girl."

"Uh well," the first man yanks his friend up by the collar and backs away from their table. "Thanks for the drinks, Makino-san."

"Come back soon, you two."

"What with them?" Luffy asks as they beat a swift retreat.

"No one has seen you in years. You acted like a boy when it was difficult to physically tell the difference. They were…taken by surprise."

"They didn't realize?" Luffy scratches her head in confusion. Makino claims she acted like a boy, but she hadn't been anything other than herself. Well, she'd yelled about becoming the Pirate King a lot. "So that means Shanks doesn't know either?"

"He may not."

Luffy spent some minutes just imagining the look on Shanks' face when he found out. Would he fall off his seat? She kinda wished she could be there. Then Luffy remembered why she'd come to Fuusha in the first place.

"I've got a bad problem," she says. "Ace is weird, and it's making me weird too! He stares at my mouth and chest a lot - my butt too, which is even _weirder_, what's so great about that - and I feel hot all over when he does but mostly between my-""_LUFFY!_"

Luffy shuts up, impressed by Makino's awesome new ability to turn the color of a tomato. "You look tasty, Makino."

But the bartender doesn't seem to be in the mood for teasing; she grabs Luffy by the arms and shakes her and shouts, "Are you having sex with Ace?" more frantic than Luffy's ever seen her.

"Sex?" Luffy frowns, thinking so hard her head starts to pound. She's heard that word from the bandits before - _oh_. "You mean making babies?"

"That's right. Are the two of you together in that way?"

"Ace won't touch me at all." Makino relaxes, letting go of Luffy. Then she says, "I don't get how babies are made from sex…"

Makino's eyebrows and nose scrunch up.

"And I don't know what sex is either. The hot feeling, does that have something to do with it?"

The bartender is quiet for several moments, eyes to the counter, where she smooths a rag in rhythmic circles across polished wood. "How old is Ace now?

"Seventeen."

"And you?""Fourteen next month."

"Luffy," Makino says gently, "the reason Ace won't go near you despite his attraction is because you're too young."

"No I'm not! If I'm reacting like this Ace is just overprotecting me as usual. Whatever it is you both think I'm not ready for, you're wrong." Luffy grips the edge of the table until it groans in protest. "I want it. I want it so bad it keeps me awake at night. So don't tell me I'm too young."

Understanding Luffy cannot be swayed, Makino says, "It's a bad idea for anyone your age to engage in sex." Luffy's jaw is set. "But since it'll happen either with my help or without it, I can at least teach you enough to be safe."

"Thank you!" Luffy vaults over the table to draw Makino into an enthusiastic hug. "Please tell me everything."

She sighs imperceptibly. "Where to start…"

Makino talks about the basics of what goes where, using books as a picture guide when words fail her, and then Luffy starts asking questions about what she can do to make Ace feel good even beyond what the point-A-in-slot-B imagery offered. Makino falters, the tight control keeping her embarrassment at bay shatters a little, and Luffy only gets a few choked out pointers before the bartender puts her foot down and changes the topic. She closes the Party Bar for the afternoon to take Luffy shopping for what Makino claims are necessities.

The General Store cashier, a girl too young to clearly remember when Luffy lived in their village, watches with shocked eyes as Makino slaps four different colored packages down to pay for. The girl rings them up quickly and fumbles with one of the boxes. Luffy doesn't see why plain-looking items would engender such a response as their purchases are stuffed into a paper bag and Makino drags Luffy by the wrist through the bar and straight upstairs.

"Makino, why was that girl acting so strange?" asks Luffy, when they're sequestered in the bartender's bedroom.

Makino clears her throat and the simple action tells Luffy she better pay attention to what is about to be said because it's Important and repeating it might actually kill her. So Luffy frowns and concentrates fully on what's being explained instead of how much fun she and Ace can have now Luffy knows how to use the strangely shaped adornments she doesn't really get why they need but should use anyway for Makino's peace of mind.

With her new knowledge Luffy plans the best ways to get Ace to admit defeat and take her to bed, but if she just jumps him they're more likely to fight than have sex. So Luffy plays instead, doing what she'd been doing quite naturally up until now, creating opportunities for them to touch as much bare skin together as she can get away with.

Piggyback rides are easy to plead for, and Luffy sits closer to Ace at mealtimes to rub her legs to his. She pulls him into hugs that last a bit longer and hold a bit tighter than strictly appropriate for family. Since Ace reacts more strongly to seeing skin that's normally covered Luffy takes a clue from the scantily clad women in magazines she finds lying around Dadan's place and acquires a bikini she wears on their next beach trip.

Ace is unable to tear his eyes away, and Luffy is pretty sure she spotted drool on his chin. She purposely trips over a rock, landing in his lap so she can peer up at him through ocean-damp eyelashes and smile as she shifts against his body.

The poor bikini is destroyed, but it's purpose has been served.

Eventually Luffy begins to get bored of teasing. She's ready for Ace to give up and just _do _her already - he isn't the only one frustrated, and she's nothing if not determined to get what she wants. Luffy had forgotten about her birthday and the plan to wait.

So it's a coincidence she turns fourteen the day Luffy gets back to what she's good at: the straightforward approach.

* * *

Ace has to wake Luffy that morning; for some strange reason she's reluctant to get out of bed. So he rolls her over and shakes the living daylight out of her. He's stopped by a knee in the solar plexus. "Why does everyone think shaking me will make me move faster? Whenever you do it my brain gets all rattled."

"Sorry, but you really need to get up. Everyone is waiting at Dadan's."

"What? _Why_?" Luffy asks, wiping the sleep from her muzzy eyes.

"Do you seriously not remember?" Ace rolls his eyes at how dumb she can be. "Just get ready. You'll know when we arrive."

"Okaaaay, just leave me alone already." Luffy tosses the covers off and crawls drunkenly towards the stack of clothes she keeps by the wall. She pulls on whatever's handy, and Ace 'humph's in surprise when the gray tank Luffy wore yesterday smacks him in the face. He's wary as he pulls himself free. Luffy could be naked again and today would be a bad day to be distracted by desire. They'll be spending much of the day with people other than just each other - Makino and the mayor have come to celebrate and the more people there are the harder it would be to leave if the need arose. Luckily, Luffy is decent enough not to send his hormones into immediate overdrive, but a small patch of skin peeks out above the waistband of her shorts. Ace wants to bite it.

"Then I'll go first," he says. If he were to stay his control - already frayed so thin by _everything_ Luffy - would snap completely. There's no way he'll allow himself to be remembered as the pervert who groped his sister on her birthday. He forces himself to walk away from their tree house and the sliver of temptation so shamelessly begging his control to just give it up already, to lick, to scratch how Ace would like.

But he resists, and now it wouldn't be much longer before he could escape from Dawn Island and all the memories here. A few of the memories are pleasant - Luffy, Makino, Dadan - some less so - the old man, the insults aimed at his father with rifle accuracy, that there was no Sabo here to celebrate Luffy's birthday or to offer a comforting hand when Luffy was going through her unspeakable womanly cycle and went beyond crazy for a few days - PMS, when Ace and every other beast in the forest kept far, far away while she attempted to fight anything that crossed her path.

As the toughest guy around, it was Ace's job to be the bait and lure Luffy to places she could let loose the excess emotion through her fists. These are the only times he comes dangerously close to being one-hit knockout beaten. But more than anything, it shows Ace just how strong Luffy can be when she's not holding back. When it's her turn to leave and take to the beautiful and unforgiving ocean to chase after her own adventure…Ace quietly acknowledges the success she'll have. Luffy will be stronger than any man or woman in East Blue and hopefully have the power to flee the Grand Line if it comes to that.

Everyone is buzzing excitedly in the front room as they wait for the guest of honor to arrive. They see it's Ace and rush around to add the finishing touches - they know that wherever he is, Luffy can't possibly be far behind. He isn't sure why they're going to all this trouble with decorations. If they'd cooked twice the amount of food they normally did and brought out some sort of cake, and maybe give her a little sake, Luffy'd be perfectly happy with the party. But somehow streamers had been considered a _good_ idea and there were tables filled with ridiculous neon colored hats and noise makers. Ace was not looking forward to the unbearable noise they'd be treated to when Luffy found those.

Luffy herself finally made it to headquarters, still fuzzy and confused. She was blinded the second she stumbled into the darkened room, people and applause and confetti thrown in her direction; this was not the best of ideas - Luffy believed she was being attacked by genuine enemies and reacted accordingly. The house was now missing two walls, and several of the men who'd been standing closest had to be moved away from the wreckage for medical attention. Luffy smiled sheepishly at the disaster, thanking them for all their hard work, but could they please warn her next time a bunch of people were going to jump from behind furniture; it made her a bit twitchy.

Anyone who wasn't hurt in the mayhem decided to carry on with the party by introducing Luffy to the platters of food that survived. Pleased by the chance to eat absolutely anything she wanted and not made to scramble for it, as meals like this usually went, Luffy was so thoroughly sidetracked that they managed to bring in her gifts without being tackled with enthusiasm. The cake Makino baked was fluffy and light, so delicious even Luffy slowed down to taste it instead of shoveling the dessert directly down her throat.

Because of all the hubbub Ace gets hardly a second of Luffy's time until Makino has left and the bandits wander off to get hideously drunk. Luffy takes his hand and leads Ace home, where they collapse on their blankets to relax. Or rather Ace _was_ relaxing until Luffy clambers onto his chest and nuzzles him.

"I thought they'd never leave us alone," Luffy groans, clinging more tightly to his shoulders. "Forgot it was my birthday."

"I guessed." If she just wanted to snuggle a little, he wouldn't stop her, but having Luffy sprawled in his lap is both heaven and hell. If she doesn't move, maybe he'll be alright?

As if reading his mind and taking it upon herself to do the exact opposite, Luffy wiggles further down his body, apparently trying to find a more comfortable spot to rest her head. Ace holds his breath when she scoots down his thighs.

"Hold still if you're going to sit on me," he mutters. He catches Luffy's hips to steady her, but then Ace feels her tongue flit across the skin of his neck and wonders if he's completely misjudged the situation. "Did you just lick me?"

"Yep. We're gonna have sex now," she says, and licks him again.

"What the he-" Luffy smothers the question by shifting her lips from Ace's throat to his open mouth. Ace shoves at her, a token protest, before he's distracted by the taste and slick feel of her tongue - Luffy's tongue, oh god - brushing his own. There's the sweetness of cake and the tang of his sweat, but not the sake Ace was expecting; he could easily write this off as Luffy drinking too much and having one of her impulses to do something incredibly stupid, but the defined flavor of alcohol is missing. So why was he being kissed?

Gathering his scattered wits, Ace curves his hands around Luffy's cheeks to gently push her away. Far enough so he could talk, but not for Luffy to complain or feel rejected. "Are you drunk?" he murmurs quietly, so Luffy will know he's taking this seriously but also giving her an out.

"I never touched the sake. Didn't want to be bleary for this." And 'this' apparently meant Luffy digging through his clothes with eager fingers and kissing the breath out of him with wicked lips.

"But why?" A question he needs to have answered, because if this isn't for exactly the right reason, Ace will put a stop to it.

"I love you, Ace," she says simply. "I want you and want to share myself with you. This is the one part of me you don't know, but I willingly give it." She traces the tips of her fingers over his forehead and the arch of his brow. "We," she kisses him; short, dry pressure on closed lips. "are family."

Ace can't reply to her declaration with words because _those_ words are all he's been waiting for. If this was truly how Luffy felt about him, how she saw their relationship, Ace didn't have the strength to turn her away.

"Come here," he whispers, taking Luffy into his arms as she settles fully against his body. He just holds her there, reveling in the ability to touch and feel whatever he'd like, and for now he wants to enjoy the way her curves and dips fit perfectly to his body even through their clothes.

Their next kiss is deeper than the first few, more about exploration then seducing or convincing. This time it's Ace who slides his tongue into Luffy's parted mouth to taste and map teeth, a soft inner cheek, the sensitive ridges that bend across the roof - Luffy giggles at the ticklish sting when Ace traces his tongue along them.

"Hey," he says, drawing back to breathe. "This is great. But we can't go any further tonight.

"_Why?_" Luffy whines. "We're already tangled up, might as well finished what we started." It's true - somehow, Ace's hands crept up her shirt, and Luffy's fingers have threaded through his belt loops.

"Because I don't have a condom." They were something he wouldn't allow himself to buy. If he did, his thoughts would never stray from their intended use. So now he had nothing while Luffy was pretty much offering herself up on a silver platter. "Dammit."

"You mean one of these?" Luffy's fingers disappear inside her pocket and return with a foil square hanging between them. She smiles. "Can we keep going now?"

Ace swallows around the lump of nervousness in his throat, and says, "Yeah."

* * *

Ace wakes up before he realizes he's even fallen asleep. He'd burrowed his face into her chest and that's the last thing he remembers - the thought makes him cringe. Ace doesn't want to be that guy who passes out after sex.

Luffy is kneeling beside him, eyes half-lidded in content. Fading light pools in the contours of her body and Ace is caught; the word that springs to mind is not beautiful, but breathtaking.

Luffy is too strong, too brave, too independent and indestructible to be considered truly feminine. Her curves are smaller, her skin thicker, her hands rougher than ordinary, but there is something magnetic and _inevitable_ about Luffy that attracts the strangest of bedfellows. Ace cannot even begin to imagine the colorful crew she will collect on the vast oceans.

He holds out an arm for Luffy to tuck herself beneath, sparking lazy warmth everywhere they come into contact. Ace has sense enough to ask if she's okay. Luffy hums affirmative as she curls closer still, easy in their intimacy, and Ace drifts to the lull of her steady heart.

* * *

"Ace?"

"Yeah?"

"Does this mean you'll take baths with me again?"

"…"

"Ace? Where are you going? Ace? Hey Ace!"

* * *

He's a fool for thinking it'd get _easier_ after he's had Luffy, that the mind-clouding rush of hormones would abate. How naïve to believe once or twice a week would satisfy the lingering desire and let him get on with his life.

But now Ace knows how it feels. Knows the sweet sound Luffy makes if he mouths just below her left ear, how she'll laugh until she cries when he teases her bellybutton or the delicate arch of her foot. He's got this precious knowledge and he wants to use it _all the damn time._

They'll be doing something completely unrelated and Ace will find himself grabbing her for a kiss. He loves kissing Luffy; she's light, playful, refuses to lay back and let him have control unless it's what he _needs_. Ace can almost literally not get enough.

Spurring him on is an unspoken reality: to keep their promise with Sabo, Ace will need to set sail before winter comes.

As the deadline draws close and Luffy still doesn't say anything Ace can't help feeling offended. Won't he be missed at all? They haven't been separated by anything in the last seven years. Couldn't she pretend to be upset, or maybe show Ace her adorable crying face as she begs him not to leave?The night before he's due to leave, Ace gets a little drunk.

All his things are crammed inside a single backpack. He's excited to step out into the world and make a mark of his own. His father is irrelevant - Portgas D. Ace is a name that won't be forgotten. It's his mother for whom Ace wants to bring glory.

When Luffy smiles at him once too many, Ace grabs her, kisses her so deep he can taste her heartbeat, says, "Don't you care I'm going?"

"We'll see each other again." Luffy lets his head rest against her knee. "So I won't say goodbye."

"Oh," he says.

Ace falls asleep in her lap. He doesn't see the way Luffy watches him as if memorizing every detail, doesn't see her pet his hair and roll the silky strands between her fingertips. He doesn't know she stays awake all night.

A group gathers to see him off. Ace is glad to see them one last time but Luffy is tired and still smiling and Ace wishes they'd go so she could see him off properly. He certainly wasn't expecting to be kissed, have his tiny boat christened before he could even sail her out the bay. Luffy does it anyway. And just before he goes, Luffy whispers that she'll miss him.

Their promise is as big and full as the ocean. It's so certain Ace aims his ship towards the Grand Line without pausing to wonder _when_. They _will_, and that's enough.

* * *

A/N - This chapter is pretty suggestive, but it's actually an edited version of the M-rated original. If you're old enough you can read it on my LJ, a link to which you'll find on my profile.

One last thing - don't expect every chapter to be this long. 2500 sounds reasonable, right? Especially if you want new chapters every two weeks. I'm a slow writer, you guys!

Next chapter: Luffy meets Coby, Zoro, and Nami. Coby is an oblivious fanboy (as always). Zoro finds out and they get it on. Nami finds out and Luffy gets smacked in the face.

Business as usual.


	3. goddamn pirates

Pairings (this chapter): Zoro/Luffy, one-sided Coby/Luffy, and slight Luffy/Nami

Word Count: 2447

Rating: PG-16 for the usual swearing, flirty Luffy, and accidental boob gropage

**Warning**: This chapter contains some femslash and heavy petting between Zoro and Luffy. Again, nothing explicit.

3 - goddamn pirates

Today was The Day.

Luffy races excitedly to the dock, a single pack slung over her shoulders. Everything else she needs is already on the boat. Makino is waiting there, supporting smile firmly in place despite the old mayor's displeasure.

"She is going to _ruin_ this village's reputation," Luffy hears him grumble as she hurtles up behind him. Not in the least bit intimidated, the new pirate leaps onto Whoop Slap's back in an enthusiastic gesture of affection.

"Isn't it great?" she yells in his ear. The mayor swears loudly and tries to smack Luffy off of him, and it's such a funny reaction Luffy clings on for a while longer just so she can laugh.

She finally releases him from her torment, turning to hug Makino instead. The bartender squeezes her tightly but there is surprise on her face when she pulls away. "Luffy, what did you do to your chest?"

"Huh?" Luffy looks down but only sees her vest. She's not even bleeding or anything. "Is something wrong with it?"

"You-" A sudden, strong wind blows across the docks, almost stealing her hat and carrying with it the tantalizing scent of the sea. Luffy promptly tunes out everything. Her tiny boat is floating not far from where she's standing - why isn't she on it?

Luffy wanders away from the gathering crowd to untie the single line holding her here. The giddy rush she feels as she steps aboard for the first time makes her giggle; her mind is filled with thoughts of Ace out on his own adventure, linked irrevocably to memories of Sabo and their promise. She can't help but shout it to the wide blue sky.

And as Luffy waves _see you later_ to everyone watching from the shore, she decides to remind them of her dream one last time.

"I'm gonna be the Pirate _King_!"

Just in case they forgot.

* * *

She's almost sad when her special little boat is destroyed by a whirlpool.

* * *

Coby is in awe. He hadn't know pirates like Luffy existed - strong, fearless, kind and painfully honest - and he certainly hadn't expected to sail with one, even just for a short while. Whether he's punching Coby's worst nightmare in the stomach or sunning himself in the crows nest of their stolen ship, Luffy never ceases to surprise.

And if he occasionally imagines what it would be like to kiss Luffy, if he'd be rough or sloppy or smile the whole way through, Coby can't be blamed.

When they arrive at Marine run island, there's regret tangled up in his excitement. Not much, yet he can't help but wish the journey had taken longer.

Then they meet the dreaded Roronoa Zoro and Coby sees just how far out of his league Luffy really is. Luffy sees through the rumors, the bullshit tough guy personality - he isn't the least bit shocked when they hear the story behind Zoro's capture.

Though he resists, futilely and hardly at all, Zoro becomes the first member of Luffy's nakama.

They fight together against the type of Marine Coby never wants to be and the trust between them is immediate. Pirate and pirate hunter they may be, but the two fit each other perfectly.

As Coby watches Luffy sail after his dream, surrounded by proof that he has finally stepped into his own, he swears then and there that one day he'll become strong enough to catch up with his impossible friend. Strong enough to catch him period.

Coby smiles as the regret is overcome by anticipation.

Soon.

* * *

They're barely out of port when Luffy shrugs off his hole-ridden vest and begins picking at the bandages wrapped snug around his chest.

"Are you hurt?" Zoro asks. He'd seen the bandages prior to their fight with Morgan but it was possible Luffy had been bruised beneath them, or reopened an old wound.

"Nope," Luffy says, finally locating the end and unraveling it with a sigh of satisfaction. "I just don't wanna wear this."

Before Zoro can process all the reasons one might wear unnecessary bandages, they fall loose under Luffy's hands. He stares briefly at the soft curves, smaller than most but recognizable as distinctly feminine features. Zoro tugs at Luffy's shorts. The denim pulls taut across his - _her_ - thighs but there is no sign of a bulge.

"Huh," he says, and lets go. "You're a woman?"

"Eh? You didn't know? I wasn't trying to hide it." Luffy stretches, arms overhead and back arching. It does interesting things to her chest, things the few remaining loops of bandages fail to hide. Zoro can't remember being so acutely aware of another - Kuina had set an impossible example and fighting women were few and far between. But…this was nothing to do with gender. Luffy had been stupidly charming from the beginning. "You don't mind right?"

He leans back, smirks at the sky. "I've witnessed first hand how strong women can be."

"Shishishi, I knew you'd be great! Coby said -"

As Zoro sits and listens to his new captain ramble, he hopes Kuina is watching, wherever she was. Luffy dreamt of becoming Pirate King - to accomplish that would mean being the strongest, not only among the swordsmen, but the whole world over.

And there's a growing belief in Zoro that maybe, just maybe, Luffy is that woman.

* * *

"Hey Zoro, wanna have sex?"The man in question is settling in for his third nap of the day, swords propped on his shoulder and eyes already closed. Zoro ignores her, assuming his captain is trying to get a rise (or maybe a game of tag) out of him. They've been sailing together for only a few days and not even Luffy could be _that_ bored.

"C'mon Zoroooooo. I can tell you're awake."

A finger pokes at the furrow between his eyebrows. He refuses to look until Luffy presses her chest against his own, bare skin warm where she's been sprawled beneath the sunlight. Half-naked Luffy is hardly new, but it's certainly more difficult to ignore when Zoro can feel her breasts up close and personal.

When he does open his eyes Zoro wishes he'd kept up the pretense no matter how tempting the distraction; Luffy's shorts have gone missing and the way she's straddling his lap puts her on shameless display.

"What the hell are you doing?" Zoro sets his hands on the relatively safe span of her waist to hold her lower body at arms length. If his fingers slip higher then it's entirely her fault because she will not. stay. still.

"Playing a game! Ace called it 'seduction'," Luffy says. Zoro wonders at her innocence, briefly - then she kisses him, a deep kiss full of confidence and tongue, and he realizes _innocent_ isn't the choice word here. Naïve, perhaps. Or oblivious. Luffy kisses like she's done it a thousand times before - for all he knows, maybe she has.

Zoro responds instinctively to the mischievous flick of her tongue on his lips, parting them to let it sweep across his teeth and the ticklish ridges of his palate. When he growls at the aggravating sensation, Luffy darts away to taste the curve of Zoro's cheek instead.

"You're serious?"

"Well, yeah. Sex is fun."

"I wouldn't know," Zoro mutters.

"Eh? Did you say something?"

Deciding to get the humiliation over with, Zoro raises his voice and repeats, "I wouldn't know."

There's a beat of silence, and then Luffy yells through her hysterical laughter, "Zoro hasn't done it!" Continuing to giggle at the swordsman's grumble of _I was busy training_, she says, "I'm surprised. You aren't bad looking - green hair is so cool - and like drinking. Didn't girls talk to you in bars and stuff?"

"Most women break easy," Zoro answers, anger temporarily abated by Luffy's genuine shock at his lack of experience.

"Not me." Luffy places his calloused hands on her chest and covers them until Zoro hesitantly trails his thumb across the skin there. "I've been called a monster more than once because I'm almost indestructible."

"Why do this with me? _For_ me?" Zoro squeezes hard enough to bruise an ordinary person. Luffy just sighs at the pressure.

"Because we're nakama!" she says, as through it explains everything.

And it's such a stupidly simple, stupidly _Luffy_ statement, Zoro has to kiss her.

* * *

"God, _Luffy_," he groans. She laughs breathlessly, slumping sideways to rest her forehead on the mast. They stay curled together.

Eventually Luffy starts snoring, and Zoro settles in for the best damn nap he's ever had.

* * *

They're listless and starving when the bird flies high overhead. Luffy has just finished rebinding her chest, though Zoro can't figure out why - they're only going to come off again later. Unless she likes it when-

Huh. Zoro feels a different sort of hunger settle low in his stomach and wonders how fast he can get the strips of cloth off without tearing them. Maybe he could set a new record.

"Oi, Zoro! Look at that!" Luffy is pointing at a colorful blob in the sky. "Think we can eat it?"

"Probably." Zoro shrugs. His mind is elsewhere.

Which is too bad for him; the swordsman has forgotten how much Luffy enjoys food. In the next second she's screaming something about rockets and _not coming down_.

"Fuck," Zoro says, hand shadowing his eyes as he tracks his rapidly disappearing captain.

He picks up a couple of losers who lead him straight to Luffy, locked up and making nice with a crazy witch of a red-head who looks at them both with endless exasperation and reads the sea like she's was born to it. As far as nakama goes, Zoro guesses they could do worse.

* * *

Nami has no clue what to think about the madman who falls from the sky.

On one hand, he's a pirate. On the other, he's saved her life over and over again since they met. Even now, as they run from an angry mob of villagers with the wrong idea, she's shocked at herself for allowing said life saving to overwrite her instinctual hatred towards all pirates, so much so that Nami actually intends to sail with him. And not _just_ him. His masochist of a first mate as well, with whom she deeply suspects Luffy shares romantic liaisons. Seriously, why else would _any_ person drag a concrete cage halfway across town with a gaping hole in their gut?

That night, Luffy jumps across the small breach separating their ships. Nami is enjoying her newspaper by the flickering light of a lantern. She's been there since the sun set - pirate hater she may be, but Nami will always love the sea and how beautiful it looks with improbable hues of red and gold refracting across the waves.

"What do you want?" She doesn't mean to sound grumpy, but Luffy's presence signals the end of her peaceful evening. Actually, Nami's surprised she hasn't been visited before now. What the hell had he and Zoro been doing? Sleeping is the only way she can answer that question and still look Luffy in the eyes. Her face feels hot.

Which is ridiculous. Since when has she been sex shy?

"Nothing! Just wanna hang out with my new nakama." He blinks at Nami with wide, innocent eyes she can't bring herself to believe are fake. He's such a dunce.

When Luffy stretches out beside her on the deck chair, Nami rolls her paper into a cylinder and whacks him with it. "This is what you call 'hanging out'? You're way too close!"

"Eh? But isn't this what girls do? Lay back and watch the sky together?"

"No! Girls get tans and go shopping for clothes and none of that matters. You aren't a girl."

"Yes I am!" Luffy is frowning like _she's_ the one who's stupid. Nami hits him again.

"Then prove it," she says. There is no chance Luffy could be female. Nami has never seen a woman move, laugh, fight the way he does - careless and unselfconscious and animal. So of course she doesn't understand what her eyes are telling her when Luffy tugs at the bandages around his chest and a pair of wholly obvious breasts spring free.

"Those can't be real!" Nami grabs a handful of. of. of…warm, supple flesh that gives between her fingers. They certainly feel real enough, right down to how Luffy jerks like he - she's - been electrocuted when Nami pinches a little too hard. "Oh."

"Why didn't you just say you wanted to?" Luffy asks. The grin that's normally too big for her face softens into something inviting, and she leans in to press a delicate kiss against Nami's cheekbone.

"Wait-"

"I've never done it with another girl before, but I bet it's fun this way too."

This time, Luffy is aiming for her mouth. Nami, overwhelmed and massively freaking out on the inside, does the only thing she can think of.

The thief stands back to catch her breath while Luffy whimpers and rubs at the throbbing lumps on her head. "Why were you kissing me?"

"You were squeezing my boobs so I thought you wanted to have sex!"

"That was an accident!" Nami shrieks at the cowering brunette. "Why would I want to have sex with a woman? And one I just met at that!"

"Because we're nakama," Luffy says. A presumptuous statement of fact.

"No." Nami clenches her fists, so tightly that a nail - one she'd torn trying desperately not to murdered by an insane clown, and Luffy had saved her then too - pricks her skin. Blood beads in the shallow cut. "We're not."

Luffy slinks back to the other ship, dejected. Nami retreats to her cabin, rifling through the bag of cosmetics she keeps handy in search of a nail file. She manages to make it through eight of her fingers before the guilt forces her to abandon her manicure and find Luffy. It feels like she needs to say _something_. Anything.

And she finds Luffy, alright, curled up in Zoro's lap and attached at the lips. Nami see a darting flash of pink and has to bite at her own mouth. The swordsman pulls away to look at her, eyebrow raised, smirk creeping firmly into place. Luffy follows Zoro's gaze.

She smiles widely, as though Nami hadn't just beaten her skull in not half an hour before. "Do you wanna join us?"

When Luffy holds out a welcoming hand, Nami wishes it wasn't so difficult to turn away.

Goddamn pirates.

* * *

A/N - For those of you wondering about the Luffy/Nami, it'll be resolved in the Arlong chapter and then settle into the background. There will be hints throughout the story, but this is a solidly Zoro/Luffy and Luffy/lalalalala-not-telling fic.

Oh, and I know you're likely going a little crazy guessing at the surprise Luffy pairing, but I promise you'll know after Alabasta!

Next chapter: Usopp wonders why Luffy is forbidden from sleeping in the men's cabin, Zoro celebrates Be A Creeper Day, and Sanji is beyond confused by his newest waiter.

It's longer, I swear. And I apologize for this part being so short. *remembers a simpler time when 2000 words was a lot* Fanfic has ruined me, damn it all...

Those dreaded things called finals will be starting in a week or so, which means no time for writing. Sorry. ;_;


	4. making a spectacle

Pairings (this chapter): Zoro/Luffy, shockingly platonic Sanji/Luffy, and some Zoro/Usopp that was supposed to be a joke…

Word Count: 4025

Rating: PG-13 for twice the usual swearing and Zoro being creepy, only not

**Warning**: None for this chapter

4 - making a spectacle

It's gratifying to see his new crew properly appreciate their gift from Kaya. Usopp hates to leave her behind, he really does, and he knows Luffy would let her come along if he asked, but Kaya is still frail and has her own dream to follow. So Usopp boards the Going Merry, waving until his dear lady is just a smudge on the coast. He sighs wistfully.

"Aw, c'mon. Smile!" Fingers clamp over his cheeks and pull so his lips curl up in a gross caricature of a smile.

Usopp splutters, reaching back to beat ineffectually at his captor's skull. His flailing sends Luffy's hat flying across the deck, and the rubberman releases him to run after it. "Don't stretch my face! What if it got stuck?"

"Stuck?" Luffy claps the straw hat to his head. "That can happen?"

"If a strong wind blows the moment you make a strange expression, it'll get stuck that way forever." Luffy gasps in what Usopp assumes is sheer terror, but then he rearranges his face into something that is truly inhuman and turns into the breeze as if _hoping _it'll get stuck.

_What an idiot_, Usopp thinks, and grins, because damn if he isn't going to have fun with this. Sailing under Luffy might be his best idea yet; he gets starry eyed as he imagines all the ingenious pranks they'll pull together.

Nami, who's been watching from behind her newspaper, rolls her eyes at them and says, "Luffy, he's lying. You could stand there all day and your face won't stay like that."

Luffy makes a muffled, questioning sound. The sniper actually hopes he'll listen to Nami - seeing someone's bottom lip stretched over their nose and their eyelids rolled back to fully expose the swiveling eyeball beneath is really quite disturbing. There's an odd noise from the upper deck. Usopp looks around to see Zoro torn between hilarity and horror, choking on a laugh from behind his shielding hand. When Luffy doesn't seem inclined to put his face back to normal the swordsman wanders down to do it for him.

As grateful as Usopp is that he no longer has to keep catching accidental glimpses of monstrosity, there is a calculating air about Zoro that worries him. He has a feeling he's about to be revenged upon for scarring the swordsman beyond forgiveness. He's certainly not expecting Zoro to take Luffy by the shoulders, bend him over, and kiss him full on the mouth.

It's pretty intense for mere visual revenge - Zoro bites and slicks his tongue across Luffy's lips, delving inside for a lengthy taste of whatever their captain had for lunch. Luffy is giggling and wrapping his arms around Zoro's neck and decidedly _not_ punching him into the ocean. Fingers are tangled in hair. Pleased, hungry noises drift on the breeze.

"I'm plenty scarred. You can stop now," Usopp says, loudly. "Scarred FOR LIFE."

They ignore him.

He turns to Nami, seeking support. She stares at Usopp blankly, sighs and goes back to her newspaper as if this is an everyday occurrence.

An. everyday. occurrence.

Slowly, ever so slowly, his gaze returns to where Zoro now has Luffy pinned to the floor, hand sliding up the leg of his shorts.

"DRINKS! DRINKS TO CELEBRATE OUR NEW SHIP!" Usopp screams in desperation.

It does the trick. Luffy shoves Zoro away and races towards the kitchen. "We gotta kanpai! Zoro, come help me find the sake."

Zoro gets up to follow, but not without a glare so lethal Usopp can almost feel the blades of a thousand swords prodding at his vital organs. It's entirely possible Usopp is going to _die_. Maybe he should've just taken Zoro's vengeance like a man.

Well, it's not Usopp's fault the guy didn't choose revenge he...enjoyed a little less.

Their celebration is deceptively peaceful. Nami joins them with a smile that promises she's going to drink _someone_ under the table before the day is through, Luffy hugs him, then again and again and again until Usopp isn't sure he's not in on Zoro's diabolical plot, and Zoro settles in to watch them over the rim of his mug. It's all quite nice until Luffy makes himself comfy in the swordsman's lap.

Zoro nuzzles at Luffy's neck, slipping his vest to the side and littering the skin there with small kiss marks. Sharp teeth scrape along the curve of his shoulder, prompting a hum of pleasure from the rubberman. Through it all Zoro never takes his dark, heavy stare from Usopp's face. Not once. Goosebumps erupt across his arms. His cheeks grow hot.

He's seriously starting to question Zoro's intentions.

Usopp knows he is mind-bogglingly handsome - a brave warrior of the sea who's had women and men alike beg on hand and knee for his heart, who lost his virginity at the tender age of fourteen to a buxom beauty driven to the height of desire by rumors of his many heroic efforts...

If Zoro is, uh, overcome with lust at his presence Usopp can totally understand why, even if he wishes with every fiber of his being it wasn't so. Zoro is big and bulgy with muscle and thinks copious blood loss is some sort of joke - to sum it up, he's a frightening human being. And very, very male.

While Usopp prides himself on being a breast man, he's got no problem with those of a different persuasion. In fact, when Zoro sits back and Luffy slumps boneless on his chest, nose tucked under his chin, they make a sweet pair. As long as the two aren't actively trying to get it on in front of him, Usopp is happy to leave them be.

Heck, Zoro looks so content to have Luffy in his arms that Usopp begins to believe he imagined the whole thing.

The rest of the afternoon passes without incident. He and Luffy explore Merry from top to bottom - play hide and seek in the storage room, start a tickle war in the crow's nest (a war Usopp would've won except Luffy is a cheating cheater who cheats with his stupid rubber fingers and unfair strength), climb down the men's cabin stairs to collapse in a sweaty heap of heaving laughter. Usopp takes it on himself to regale his friend with a silly anecdote until Luffy is shaking so hard he can't breathe and tears stream down his cheeks and catch in his eyelashes, which Usopp distantly acknowledges are kinda long up close.

Nami finds them in the middle of choosing their hammocks. "Luffy, I hope you aren't getting comfortable."

"Why not?" Luffy dangles from the hammock upside down, one hand holding his hat in place. He sticks his tongue out at the navigator. Usopp stifles the snickers threatening to burst free from his stomach in fear of her wrath.

"Because this is the _men's_ cabin," Nami says, and Usopp's mind snags on the strange emphasis. "You aren't meant to sleep in here."

Perhaps it's because Luffy is captain? If that's the case Usopp doesn't know what Nami is going on about - there aren't any special captain's quarters on Merry.

"Captain or not, Luffy belongs with Zoro and myself," Usopp butts in. If Luffy sleeps somewhere else, who will listen to his late night ghost stories?

The orange-haired woman frowns. "You don't mind if Luffy stays?"

"Nope."

"Well, I guess it's okay if there's only the three of you." Nami raises her hands in defeat. "But you should really think about what you'll do when the crew grows, Luffy. Not everyone may be happy with this arrangement."

"Yes they willlllll," Luffy drawls, more interested in the way he's accidentally gotten his limbs knotted in the hammock rope. The idiot is so tangled Usopp can't tell the difference between leg and arm. What might be the edge of his sandal protrudes from a coil of indistinct flesh.

Nami shakes her head and leaves.

They stay up late, the three of them, talking about what kinds of fun the Grand Line will be - Luffy and Zoro talk mostly about finding strong enemies to fight, the sort of fight Usopp imagines you're as likely to win as lose and the bloodshed reaches apocalyptic levels. It's a subject which with he, as the only sane man in the room, has very little experience, but he's hypnotized by the casually violent chat of two men who don't know what 'defeat' means.

They are what Usopp has always wanted to become. Fearless.

He appreciates why Nami calls them monsters.

Eventually, Luffy sneaks out to steal a snack. He's not thinking about how this is the first time he's been alone with Zoro all day until the swordsman shifts out of his lazy couch hogging sprawl to watch Usopp with half-lidded eyes and suddenly he_ is_. Zoro's fingers tap against his bare abdomen. A smirk lifts the corner of his mouth.

Sweat prickles at Usopp's hairline in tiny beads that tickle as they march around the bend of his ear and drip across his neck.

Heart thumping quietly behind his ribs, Usopp is unreasonably relaxed. For all the _intent_, he isn't under the impression that Zoro will seriously attempt to compromise his virtue. Zoro is someone who could snap Usopp's neck with two fingers, but he can convince himself to feel afraid - odd indeed, considering that fear is what Usopp is very, very good at. Every muscle in his body feels loose. Zoro watches Usopp watch him and breathes and doesn't move. He lays there intently. Intensely. Whatever.

Before he knows it, Usopp is asleep.

Usopp wakes to find the cabin dark. There is a gentle weight across his shoulders, something warm and plush cradling his nose, and soft expulsions of air teasing the crown of his skull. Carefully, he draws his face away to get a better look at whoever climbed into the hammock.

Apparently the cushy things he'd had his nose buried in were breasts. He automatically assumes it's Nami; she's the only woman onboard, but the hair Usopp blinks out of his eyes is too short to belong to the navigator, and pitch black in color. The pressure around his shoulders, after a few experimental pokes, reveals itself as an extended arm.

Nami's insistence makes a lot more sense now.

Luffy is snuggling him.

Luffy is a girl.

Luffy is a _girl_ and _snuggling him_ and his first instinct is to scream and flail and probably break his neck falling from the hammock. But when he jerks away to do just that, there's a snort from behind.

Usopp twists his head to see Zoro grinning across the room. Enough moonlight flows through the porthole for him to make out the words Zoro mouths -

_I don't do guys_

- and Usopp wants to cry. He has been exquisitely, masterfully hazed.

Somehow, Luffy is still asleep. Usopp should probably move to another hammock, except Zoro is already rolling over (to gloat at his victory, that jerk), and it's comfortable here. The shock drains away as quickly as it came.

He is a breast man, after all.

Luffy's make particularly nice pillows.

* * *

Sanji hears it, of course. Hard to ignore a deafening explosion that rattles every dish on the ship. But this is the Baratie - though it sounds as if it was the old man's room that got blown to smithereens, Sanji shrugs and continues cooking. There isn't a single chef aboard who'd die from something like that.

Later, he's vaguely aware of Zeff crashing through the ceiling with whatever enormous idiot put a shiny new hole in the restaurant walls but Sanji is more concerned with the shitty son of a bitch dirtying his floor.

His first real impression of Luffy is one of honest confusion. What the hell sort of pirate thinks serving food to a starving man is a desirable qualification for his nakama? Last Sanji checked, good will wasn't exactly permissive to pillaging.

The kid is weird. What's even weirder is the off feeling in the pit of his stomach when Sanji insults him. It's _almost_ the same instinct that tells him to never hit a woman, only insane and impossible because Luffy isn't at all feminine. Even his mobile features are boyish.

What's worse is all the times he'd like to kick the stubborn fool back to wherever he came from and fuck the damage. Luffy will blink or smile or laugh and the muscles in Sanji's legs go slack and reluctance sweeps through him. It pisses him the hell off because he doesn't understand.

He knows perfectly well why the air is stolen from his lungs by the mere presence of Luffy's beautiful navigator. She's got curves to spare, a laugh more lovely than the tinkle of the world's finest bells, delicate skin that glows beneath the sunlight. Luffy has none of those things. His laugh is too loud, unfettered and embarrassing. He smells strongly of sea salt and fish. Sanji wouldn't be surprised if he only bathed once a week.

His legs don't give a crap whether those things are true or not. He still can't kick Luffy - he does manage a harsh elbow to the ribs at one point. Luffy's yelp is gratifying. Listening to the kid call him a bastard and saying something filthy in return, not a hint of conscious anywhere, is even more so, especially when Luffy laughs like it's the best joke he's ever heard though Sanji wasn't trying to be funny. There isn't a woman in existence who wouldn't take offense.

He kicks Luffy in the ankle. Lightly.

It's a start.

With his temporary insanity abating, Sanji focuses on marveling at Luffy's inability to complete even the simplest job without turning it into a disaster. In one day the pirate shatters more dishes and steals more food from the plates he delivers than any normal waiter would in an entire year. He drives the other chefs up the wall and plays around with his nakama until Sanji has to bite back a smile despite the disruption. It's fun. _They're_ fun. For the very first time Sanji begins to regret the promise he made to stay with the old fart. Only a little.

Then Krieg, fuck him to hell and back, shows up and wrecks the Baratie more thoroughly than Luffy ever could.

The pretty navigator runs off with Luffy's ship. It doesn't faze him in the least.

Mihawk appears out of everloving nowhere and gets in a fight with Luffy's swordsman, a shitty green bastard who doesn't seem to share Sanji's belief that dreams aren't everything, and it's almost interesting to see just how dangerous the situation has to get before even Luffy can't take it anymore. He freaks out, launches himself at Mihawk.

The golden eyed man must be feeling generous - Luffy doesn't get sliced to pieces and the marimo is still breathing. Zoro is bleeding freaking everywhere, but he still finds it within himself to make a ridiculous declaration about his dreams. It's the showiest confession of love Sanji's ever seen. The two bounty hunters and the sniper take off after their wayward woman. Luffy stays behind to beat the crap out of Krieg.

And when Luffy starts fighting, Sanji is beyond amazed. He's _never_ seen such a fearless, reckless person before in his whole damn life, and that really is saying something. The old man is unhelpful, going on about spears and shit while Sanji's nerves are jumping from 'rattled' to 'JESUS FUCKING CHRIST'. Eventually he has his own enemies to deal with, and then Sanji ends up shedding his shoes and jacket and diving in after Luffy because he's the biggest idiot Sanji's ever met and the cook couldn't stand it if he died.

Gin - still alive, that bastard - takes Krieg away while he has the chance, but not without a request that reminds Sanji that it's time for Luffy to leave. The Grand Line awaits.

After Gin has disappeared into the distance, Sanji slings Luffy over his shoulder and retreats to his room to treat the injured pirate. Luffy's arms are covered in goosebumps from the chill of his sodden clothes so Sanji peels those off first, spreading the worn material across the windowsill to dry.

It's strange how fragile Luffy seems laying half naked on Sanji's bed, covered only by boxers and a swath of soft cloth bandages, skinny body bruised and battered but hiding a truly fucking ridiculous amount of strength. You wouldn't know from looking at him - hell, if Sanji hadn't seen that fight with his own eyes he'd laugh in the face of anyone who so much as suggested Luffy was maybe _possibly _as strong or stronger than Sanji himself.

Someone worthy to sail under. Someone who could carry him to All Blue.

"Don't even goddamn think about it," Sanji mutters, a warning aimed at both himself and the prone form snoring away on his dampening mattress.

Putting it out of his mind, Sanji sits on the edge of the bed and picks at the wet, loose bandages wrapped around Luffy's chest. He pulls at them with great care - who knows what stupid sort of wound this guy could have - something he is very, very glad for when they unravel in his hands and, rather than a horrific injury, there are lovely curves peeking out at him instead.

…Damn shitty fucking _god_, of all people to secretly be a woman…

Yet hadn't he been unwilling to kick Luffy because deep _deep _down he'd known there was something off about the pirate? At least this explained the conflict he'd been feeling since Luffy first blinked up at him with that stupid, confused expression stamped over her oddly attractive face.

Sanji waits for the usual crazy fluttering to sweep him up in it's unrelenting grasp as he numbly tends to Luffy's most painful looking cuts. He averts his eyes from her chest, smoothing a band-aid across the bridge of her nose - there's a trickle of blood dripping from his own, not that anyone could blame him.

He lifts her gently and tugs the sheets free from her weight. Luffy's skin is sticky with salt but almost dry from the breeze blowing through his open window. Sanji retrieves a clean sheet from the closet, tucking it under her feet so she'll be warm. He sets her clothes outside where they can more fully soak in the sun. Propping one leg on the windowsill, Sanji lights a cigarette and wonders where the madness is.

Everything is quiet. Sanji sits and watches the sky, blowing idle smoke rings until Luffy stirs with a loud snort. He smiles a little at how unladylike she is.

"Oi." Sanji gestures to her chest, where the bandages are falling away. "You should fix those."

Luffy stares around dazedly, more interested in finding her hat than covering up. She grabs it off the table and only _then_ registers what Sanji said. "I guess."

The cook turns his back to give Luffy a semblance of privacy, though he doubts she cares either way. Staring out at the beckoning horizon, Sanji can't help but say, "You are an idiot. A magnificent, unbelievable idiot. So much of an idiot I don't know what to make of you."

Luffy bounds off the bed to stand next to him. "Just think of me as your captain. That's easy, right?"

"I already explained why I won't join your crew."

"Mmh." She scrunches her mouth in thought. "Are you sure the old man wants you to stay here?"

"Of course not. He'd punt me off in a heartbeat if there was a ship willing to take me," Sanji snorts.

"_I _want-" The chef balls up Luffy's vest and shoves it in her mouth, getting a full two seconds of blessed silence before she spits the material out. He uses those precious seconds to retreat onto the deck. Luffy pulls on her clothes and follows.

Stubborn. Sanji has to admit he likes it that way.

"I've got to pay my debt," he mutters as she hops up to perch on the railing.

"And if you're the only one who thinks that?"

…As if he doesn't know that already. Sanji lights another cigarette and switches the subject to one he always enjoys - All Blue. It's a nice change to chat away about the legendary ocean with someone who listens with interest instead of open disbelief.

Luffy tells him he'll find it. Sanji can't help but believe her.

He's laughing, the sound swept up by the wind, when she asks, "Will you kiss me?"

Sanji nearly drops his lighter. He looks at Luffy - she's smiling, more calm than he has ever seen her. It hurts a little, thinking of how used to Luffy's exuberance he's become. The restaurant will be too quiet.

What can he do, other than pluck the cigarette from his mouth and move closer to the pirate watching him with such steady eyes? Sanji feels surprisingly calm himself; there is none of the usual tittering, no mad tripping of his heart.

That's not entirely true. As Sanji fits himself between Luffy's dangling legs he can almost hear his heart crying out, calling him a damn idiot for refusing to sail with this girl and her unthinkingly loyal nakama.

The annoying marimo swordsman. The sharp-tongued and stunning navigator. The long-nosed boy who spun intricate tales of daring on the high seas.

If things were different, perhaps they would be _his_ nakama as well.

There is warm breath against his lips. Luffy twines his tie through her fingers and hangs on, tilting her head back so the angle is right for Sanji to lean down and close the last bit of distance between them.

When their lips touch, Luffy hums softly in what Sanji safely assumes is happiness. He makes no move to deepen the kiss. Just cups her cheeks and holds her there and does his best to tell her how grateful he is, how much he wants to go with her, that he's sure her missing woman, injured man, and stolen ship are waiting not far away. Sanji will miss her, but Luffy shouldn't linger here.

The unconventional companionship they've shared was special - he can't remember the last time he'd spoken so openly about his dream without being mocked or scoffed at. This was a memory he would treasure.

They pull apart, foreheads still touching. Sanji traces his thumb across Luffy's scar, and she says, "I won't ever forget you."

He's never been more glad to have met someone.

But the old fart is a sly man. Given the chance to pursue All Blue and serve aboard Luffy's ship doing what he loves, Sanji can only set off with the blessing of every shitty chef he calls family.

Fuck it all, he cries. He cries until snot drips down his face and it's fucking gross but he can't stop and he's surely making a spectacle of himself.

His captain doesn't give a crap. Sanji shakily steps into the boat that will be taking him to his new home. She's sitting there on the roof, nearly vibrating with anticipation. Still grinning that same grin.

"Let's go," she says.

* * *

And that's how Luffy became the almost-exception to Sanji's iron clad rule of women, only…

"Na, Sanji," Luffy says, propping her elbows on the kitchen counter. Sanji looks up from the tomato he's slicing, which is the biggest mistake he could have made - his captain is mused, hair wild from the wind or a nap or both, the skin below her eyes pink where she's knuckled it. His gaze drifts downward and finds her vest undone, bare breasts trapped between her arms to form the most divine cleavage Sanji has seen all week.

He isn't aware of his mind shorting out yet that's exactly what happens, and when Luffy smiles to light up the room and asks, "Can I have meat?" she gets what she wants in three seconds flat.

…if Luffy is hungry, all bets are off.

* * *

A/N - Luffy's boobs are hypnotic. Poor, poor Sanji. Especially since I'm not sure she was doing that last bit on purpose…

Longer chapter is longer, mostly because I didn't have to edit anything out this time. I'm sorry there's no real Usopp/Luffy, but I'm actually an avid Usopp/Kaya shipper and like to think our sniper is faithful to her (in this fic 'verse, at least). Sometimes Zoro makes him question his sexuality, but who could blame him?

I fear the next part will be short. Not only that - I'll only be posting one full chapter this month because I intend to focus on finishing my zombie AU in time for Christmas, and working on a new project: a chaptered One Piece fic based on Dante's Inferno. By Dante's Inferno I mean the video game/animated movie and not the poem, simply because one is more badass than the other. I solemnly swear it won't interfere with this fic in any way. Prologue is already at ~3700 words and not done yet, hurr.

Next chapter: A Christmas interlude! Chopper celebrates his birthday in style, and Zoro takes a shower with his captain. Major sap alert.


	5. a very sunny christmas

Pairings (this chapter): Zoro/Luffy, all around nakamaship

Word Count: 2469

Rating: PG-13 for wet and naked ZoLu

**Warning**: High concentration of schmoop. Bring insulin.

It's Christmas Eve, and that means a very happy birthday to our favorite reindeer doctor. The quality in this is a bit lacking because I wrote it in only a few hours, but hopefully it'll do. For those of you wondering what wet and naked ZoLu has to do with Chopper's birthday, just keep reading. All will become clear.

I'll be posting interludes throughout the story as flashbacks or flash-forwards like this one, snippets that don't fit with the main plot but are canon in this 'verse, and they'll be pretty much nothing but fluff. Uh, yay?

interlude one - a very sunny christmas

It was hot. Way too hot for Chopper, with his thick fur and thicker blood; he had taken refuge in the relative darkness of Sunny's aquarium, huddled far from the sunlight that still managed to stream through the curtains. Fish with sparkling rainbow fins swam close to the place Chopper had his face pressed against the thin glass separating him and them. At that moment, Chopper wished he was a fish and not a reindeer so he too could float through their lovely, temperature controlled water. There were plenty of fans on the ship, but not a single one powerful enough to keep him cool. Maybe he should ask Franky to build a super fan with blades the size of elephants, or something else sufficiently enormous.

The heat was making him sleepy. Giving up on the remote solace of fish watching, Chopper wandered out on deck. It'd been abandoned by his nakama. Everyone was sequestered elsewhere, windows propped open in silent entreaty for even the tiniest breath of sea wind to sweep away the stifling air. He gave half a thought to trying the shower, but when he passed by the bathroom door he heard the faint patter of running water. Zoro had claimed the room some time ago, taking Luffy with him. Apparently they were still inside. He considered joining them, then remember this was _Zoro and Luffy_ and quickly changed his mind.

Unable to think of anywhere else to go, Chopper ended up in the men's cabin. One bunk was occupied; a brown, gunpowder stained hand hung listlessly over the side. He trotted passed the snoozing Usopp and climbed into his own bed. Now, if only he could sleep through the day and wake to a pleasantly cold evening.

His dreams were full of snow covered mountains, sakura and crossbones, the sweet warmth of fragrant bread -

Chopper opened his eyes, the old doctor's welcoming laughter receding, but the scent of freshly baked bread lingered, growing stronger as the reindeer pulled his nose from beneath his hoof to sniff deeply.

A symphony of muffled noise and flickering light crept through the crack under the door. Usopp's bunk was empty. A female voice rose above rushing footsteps. Afraid he'd napped through an attack, Chopper sprung from his mattress and shifted to heavy point, ready for the fight.

Except there was no fight. He stepped outside, immediately caught by the lack of gunshots, explosions, or the viscous tang of blood. A quick glance around confirmed that Sunny was alone among the waves.

But his nakama continued to dart around deck, arms loaded with heaping platters of food - Sanji set several loaves of bread out on a folding table Chopper hadn't known they'd owned, simultaneous warding Luffy off with careful feet - which explained the smell. Yet it wasn't the food that held his attention: scattered across every available space were lithe white candles, casting a soft glow over the feast being laid out, and then there were the _lights_ - twinkling bulbs of all colors, hundreds of them, strung high in the riggings and twined through the branches of Nami's orange trees. They reflected off wreaths of pine and shimmering silver tinsel.

Sitting underneath the trees, almost lost to the stunning decorations, was a pile of brightly wrapped gifts.

"Luffy, stop trying to eat everything! And hurry. We want to finish before Chopper wakes up," Nami commanded, clearly having taken the reins again. Chopper still found it strange, sometimes, that Luffy let herself be so easily ordered around despite being their captain.

Franky must have seen Chopper from the corner of his eye, because he suddenly pointed in the reindeer's direction and said, "Bit too late for that."

Following his finger, Nami saw their doctor for herself and gave an aggravated sighed. "Nevermind."

"You're finally up! I've been waiting forever." Chopper startled when Luffy appeared next to him; he hadn't noticed her concede her battle for the food laden table.

"Sorry. It was just so hot earlier, I wanted to sleep until the sun went down." He tilted his head to better see the multitude of stars spotting the black sky. "Think I overdid it."

"Eh, doesn't matter. Now that you're here we can start celebrating! And eating," Luffy said, rubbing her forehead against Chopper's fuzzy chest in an effort to ignore her grumbling stomach. Chopper hugged her in apology - he'd hated being the reason Luffy was hungry. Punch her in the face and she would barely flinch, but leaving the constantly starving Luffy without food was just plain cruel.

"Let's force Sanji to feed us," he said, taking her by the hand so they approached the table together. "Though I don't understand why you waited for me. Leftovers would've been fine."

Luffy blinked in confusion. "But this is all for you. Happy birthday, Chopper!"

The reindeer couldn't even being to imagine what sort of expression he was making. He finally worked his jaw shut as Sanji came striding from the kitchen, giant cake balanced precariously on his head, hands supporting two other trays overburdened with a variety of desserts.

"Isn't this Christmas dinner?" He'd hidden the gifts for his nakama in Franky's workshop, convinced it was the one place Luffy wouldn't go poking around.

"Of course not. It's Christmas Eve, idiot." Sanji put the cake in the last open spot available and grinned at the awestruck doctor. "Why celebrate the night before?"

"I...I," Chopper stuttered, shrinking to brain point in defense against the tight feeling beneath his ribs. He'd completely forgotten his own birthday. Mixed tears of happiness and shock matted his fur. "I'm not grateful at all, you bastards!"

Everyone came forward, hugging him or kissing him or patting him on the back and wishing him well until Luffy started whining about her empty stomach, and they fell on the food like vultures, trying to grab as much as possible before Luffy began shoveling it down her throat.

Sanji had really gone all out; there was brown sugar glazed turkey, pineapple baked ham, mashed potatoes swimming in mushroom gravy and a huge bowl of leafy vegetables, exactly what the animal part of Chopper sometimes craved. He counted at least four different kinds of pies - cherry, apple, peach, rhubarb - an assortment of holiday themed petits fours, white chocolate and macadamia nut cookies, and even, he discovered with much delight, small puffs of cotton candy.

When the plates were cleared and the entire crew fit to burst, Sanji passed out cups of coffee and hot cocoa sprinkled with nutmeg and marshmallows that melted on Chopper's tongue. One by one his nakama came forward to present their gifts, first the girls, Usopp, Franky, then Luffy and Zoro with a joint offering Chopper assumed had been picked by Nami but he appreciated nonetheless. Sanji was last, having taken advantage of the distraction Chopper provided to pin sprigs of mistletoe in every doorway and low hanging piece of ship he could.

He spent the rest of the evening standing hopefully under his little twigs, trailing Robin and Nami from place to place. They eventually took pity on Sanji and kissed his cheeks, both at once so the chef was half passed in a mountain of hearts. When Zoro made the mistake of walking beneath one, he got tackled by an eager Luffy, who locked her arms around his neck and refused to let go until she'd been thoroughly kissed. Zoro somehow got away, and in short order Nami, Usopp, and Franky all fell prey to their spirited captain, who seemed to determined to steal a kiss from everyone.

Even Chopper found himself sitting under the mistletoe, Robin leaning against the railing beside him as they chatted. She smiled warmly when she noticed the vivid berries, bent forward and pressed a short kiss to his blue nose.

The stars faded as dawn approached and, drowsy and swollen from their banquet, the crew bid each other goodnight. Only Chopper was left to watch the sun break brilliant and shining over the distant horizon.

It was Christmas morning.

* * *

A/N - Wondering what Zoro and Luffy were doing in the shower? Well…

* * *

Luffy lay spread-eagled on the Sunny's lawn, one hand woven through short, prickly grass, the other fisted loosely in her wind mused hair. Zoro gave a exceptionally forceful swing of his weights and Luffy tilted her face further in his direction, urging him on with a jumbled murmur of sound and the inviting curve of her mouth.

Even though December was nearing its end, the heat was incredible. Sweat ran in rivulets across Zoro's chest only to get snagged by the jagged bump of his scar or diverted in the deeply incised lines of his abdominals, where they lingered until the next flex shook them free. He could see an uncomfortable sheen slicking Luffy's forehead, limbs, bare stomach. Her slack bandages were damp with it.

She had taken off everything but her boxers and the chest binding, wrapped so negligently it wasn't flattening anything. There was sweat gathering beneath the lower curve of her breasts.

Zoro gritted his teeth against the smothering sun, determined to finish his full set. Weather this abominable made him think longingly of the mild winters he'd enjoyed back at the dojo.

With one final sweep of his arms and a leisurely stretch of muscle, Zoro settled the weights on his shoulder and went to put them away. When he passed Luffy on his way to the shower, Zoro noticed she was napping fitfully, miserable without her living fan to keep the blistering heat at bay. Zoro nudged at her ribs with a foot.

"Oi, I'm going to shower," he said.

The bathroom was empty; a lucky coincidence, as Zoro barged in without knocking. He let the door swing shut but left it unlocked.

Turning the temperature knob to just this side of ball shriveling, Zoro stripped off his pants and haramaki, swords set neatly in a corner.

The cool water felt like a slice of heaven on earth - Zoro braced his hands against the tile and simply stood under the refreshing spray, letting the heat and sweat swirl down the drain. He relaxed in increments, the soreness that came with training slowly easing its grip on his body.

His soap was hidden behind a bottle of the love cook's girly shampoo, shit that supposedly smelled of strawberries or plums or some other dumb fruit. He preferred to keep it simple - the one bar of (unscented) soap washed both his hair and skin and got the job done without the millions of bottles his nakama seemed to need. Except for Luffy; sometimes they had to force her in the bath with the help of Robin's superb tickling skills and a copious amount of rope.

The door opened, the clap of sandals echoing in the small room.

Zoro smirked. Sometimes she came willingly.

There was a quiet rustle as Luffy's boxers hit the floor, and then she drew aside the curtain to step in behind him. She must have been groggy - her bandages slipped and clung as they became drenched with water. Rolling his eyes, Zoro propped his pliant captain up against the wall worked his fingers through layers of cloth, trying to find the edge. When more than half a minute passed with no luck, he tugged harder in frustration and was left staring guiltily at a handful of torn, useless bindings. Whatever. There were more.

He dropped the wad of fabric and maneuvered Luffy so that the spray would wet her hair. She hummed softly in response to the cool water streaming across her reddened shoulders and the lazy arch of her spine, head lolling forward so her nose nuzzled into the dip of Zoro's collarbone.

Since Zoro couldn't convince her to stay upright long enough for any washing to get done, he twisted the knob to a suitable level of warmth and eased them to sit cross-legged on the floor, Luffy resting comfortably in the cradle of his thighs.

Rubbing the bar of soap between his palms to get a lather going, he worked his fingers in slow circles across her scalp, making the motions a gentle massage that had Luffy purring at the pressure; Zoro rumbled a laugh as he imagined what her enemies would think if they were witness to the fearsome Straw Hat Luffy so completely blissed she couldn't sit up straight - when Zoro dug his fingers in harder, Luffy drooped down his chest, utterly languid.

Lathering up once more, Zoro ran his hands over the parts of Luffy he could reach with her pressed so tightly against him. Her shoulders were hot with oncoming sunburn. Zoro took care not to scrub too harshly, worried the sword calluses on his fingers would abrade the sensitive skin, but Luffy remained slumped and sleepy in his arms.

He was rougher with her arms, occasionally encountering smudges of dirt that turned out to be bruises or shallow scrapes - Zoro couldn't understand how Luffy was almost indestructible and yet always managed to injure herself without realizing.

They were the minor, insignificant wounds any exuberant child bore after a long day of play, but the sight of them nagged; there were only a few people aboard their ship capable of bruising Luffy's tough rubber skin, and none of them played with her often enough to explain the cuts away. Zoro certainly left his mark on her - fingertips brutal on her hips and thighs and back, vibrant patches of color from clamping teeth - but they'd been carrying on for so long he could tell the difference between what he left behind…and the damage Luffy must have done to herself. It was disconcerting how carelessly she treated her own body.

Zoro picked at the dirt beneath her nails before giving it up as a hopeless cause and cupping water in his palms to splash away the suds caught in the crook of her elbow. He shifted his hands to Luffy's chest, down her stomach to dip briefly inside her bellybutton, smoothing across the tender expanse of her inner thighs. Sneaking over a ticklish area on her knee, he was no longer washing so much as indulging his desire to enjoy what was his to touch whenever, however he wanted.

Luffy shook with silent laughter as Zoro's exploring fingers meandered over all her weak spots, even that oddly responsive gap between the second and third toes of her right foot; he'd rinsed Luffy everywhere he could reach without dislodging her from his lap, Zoro leaned back to rest against the cool tiles, arms hold Luffy securely as she drifted off into tranquil slumber.

He nosed damp tendrils of hair from her forehead and, having found himself a new pillow in the black strands, let his eyes close to the steady drumming of cascading water.

* * *

A/N - Hah, I bet you guys were expecting something a bit more mature, eh? But I've been accused of making Luffy sex crazy, so I wanted to prove that it's not all about the physical. In my head this actually takes place shortly before an important part of the story - the moment Zoro realizes he's fallen in love. I'll be writing that, but not for many chapters yet, so just hang tight.

Oh, and some of you may have noticed that I changed the summary. I shifted my focus from one subplot to another and so altered the summary to reflect that. It's better, right?

Merry Christmas, everyone! Until next time.

Next chapter: Interlude mini-arc. Luffy meets Stelly during her search for Ace's birthday present. Things don't end well for the noble.


	6. worlds apart

Pairings (this chapter): None; it's just Luffy, Stelly, and a little bit of Sabo

Word Count: 2765

Rating: PG-13 for cursing and whumpage

**Warning**: Stelly bashing, both figurative and literal. Spoilers for the Sabo chapters.

Look, here's the deal. That thing called _real life_ will very much be getting in my way from now on. The two week schedule is being thrown out the window. I'm sorry you guys, but it's my first semester of university and it is absolutely terrifying. Papers every week, fuck my life. I'll continue to post ASAP but when that'll be I've got no clue.

I also changed both the summary (_again_, because nothing I write in that white box is satisfying) and my pen name, since using my initials is pretty freakin' boring. Just so ya know.

interlude two (part one) - worlds apart

One week before Ace's birthday, Luffy snuck into Goa.

She knew it was ridiculous to search for a present in a town of the noble and rich, that she'd have more luck and an easier time of it in Fuusha, and yet; lingering in the back of her mind was a thought. To give Ace something she had, and Sabo'd had in the past, almost like a mark. Luffy, familiar with the shops and stock of her home village, knew she wouldn't find what she wanted there. Still, coming to Goa alone was a dumb idea.

They'd caused too much trouble the last six and a half odd years. Neither she or Ace could set foot in the deeper parts of the city without a horde of guards descending on them in no time at all.

Luffy wasn't here to cause trouble. Nothing had been further from her mind, and yet when she glanced up at High Town, that place where Sabo had been kept prisoner his own family, she couldn't help but wonder what it looked like, the big house so unbearably empty her brother traded for piles of trash.

Creeping towards the towering wall that segregated Goa, Luffy briefly considered turning back. Ace would be pissed at her recklessness. She disliked the thought of him being angry at her so soon after Christmas, but the siren song of Sabo's house tugged at her. What if she found some of his old things? It was possible that his parents had thrown everything out - it'd been a very long time, after all - but the chance to have more of her brother proved too tempting to ignore.

_Maybe no one will notice_, Luffy thought, and Rocketed herself into High Town.

She landed on the edge of the wall to get a better look, and heard shouting from below. Though she couldn't see them clearly, Luffy would bet her hat everyone was pointing upwards.

"Oops," she said. "My bad."

The people of High Town were beginning to take notice of her, so Luffy quickly leaped to a roof, and from there dropped into a disgustingly clean alleyway. It suddenly occurred to her that she had no idea which house was Sabo's; a uniformed man raced past, hollering as he went. Several answering shouts could be heard from the other side of town.

Luffy backed out of the alley and took to darting between buildings, keeping low in the shadows. She'd never find Sabo's house if she was busy being chased by a horde of angry security. Yet it wasn't long at all before she spotted a vaguely familiar face.

It was _him_, the man Sabo had called his father. The man who'd forcibly separated Sabo from the family that really loved him, taken him away to a place Sabo despised so much it killed him.

Brick cracked beneath the immense pressure of her rage, fingers driving through the wall and clenching, grinding the blocks to grit. Every ounce of instinct Luffy possessed screamed at her to get over there and plant a fist in his gut. Someone so blinded by greed they couldn't understand the suffering of their own child deserved to have the crap beat out of them.

But she didn't. Luffy simply watched the small, tired looking noble lock his gate and take off down the street, hands in his pockets and hat pulled low to cover his eyes. Luffy hated him. She wouldn't ever forgive what he had done. He was Sabo's father, half the reason her blond brother existed in the first place.

He vanished in the crowd unharmed, oblivious to the fact that the son he'd never loved had just saved his life.

Taking a deep breath to steady herself, Luffy dragged her attention to the enormous white structure swallowing the opposite row of houses. It wasn't the largest in High Town, but it dwarfed Dadan's hideout and anything she'd seen in Fuusha.

There were so many windows to choose from. Luffy dashed across the road, took to the gap between the surrounding wall and the neighboring house. She stretched her arms for the roof and climbed through a window on the top floor, right side.

She could tell at once that the room had belonged to Sabo, not because it was dusty or bare or untouched, but because it was exactly the opposite.

Someone was using it as storage for their unwanted things. The floor was littered with discarded books and crinkled pages of creamy paper, toy cars missing wheels and broken coloring pencils. A dented trumpet lay propped against a polished wooden bookcase.

Luffy stepped closer to examine its haphazardly piled contents. She sucked in a breath when she browsed through their titles and realized what this was: an entire bookcase dedicated to navigation. Taking one, Luffy flipped open the cover, curious about Sabo's favorite subject.

She couldn't have read it if she'd wanted to; whoever turned her brother's space into a garbage dump had also vandalized his books. Page after page was obscured by the aimless scrawling of a child, but it was the red marks she found on the finals pages, purposely etched across each line of text, that made her whole body blaze with anger. Setting it aside, Luffy grabbed another book only to see the same. With the next too, and the next, and the next, and the next…

Someone had actually _taken the time_ to do all this-"Because they were Sabo's," Luffy whispered aloud. Wasn't that the simple truth? The person who'd taken over this room after Sabo died, they'd done it because they were glad he was gone and not ever coming back.

Luffy turned, dead set on tearing the house apart until she found the person responsible and broke their nose. She was spared the trip - the door slammed wide, and in stomped the ugliest boy she'd ever seen.

He was blond like Sabo, but that's where all resemblance stopped. He must have gotten the short end of the genetic stick, with his flat nose, tiny eyes, and fish lips. His hair was shaped like a bowl.

They stared at each other in shock until he pointed and asked, "Who the hell are you?"

"I'm Luffy, stupid bowl head." She held up a book, open so the scribbles were on clear display. "Did you do this?"

The boy's cheeks flushed red. "My name is Stelly! And those books are mine. I'll do what I want with them."

"No, they aren't." Luffy walked over to the case and started neatly replacing the books she'd dropped in her haste to check for marks. "These belong to Sabo."

His dead silence spoke volumes.

"How- _who are you?_" Stelly gasped.

"I already told you. I'm Luffy."

"But how do you know about Sabo? You…you smell like trash. I bet you met him in Grey Terminal when he ran away." Stelly recoiled, pressed himself against the wall. "Don't come any closer! I'll catch your germs!"

Luffy raised an eyebrow at his sudden freak out. "Yeah, that's right. I'm his brother," she said, crossing her arms.

"You're a girl."

"So?"

"Girls can't be brothers, idiot."

"Me, Ace, and Sabo are brothers. Ace said so!" Luffy huffed. Stupid bowl head didn't know what he was talking about.

"You aren't his sibling anyway, because that's me." Stelly twisted his lips into a smirk. "I'm Sabo's _legally_ adopted younger brother."

Luffy felt the bottom of her stomach plummet. Sabo hadn't mentioned having another brother, even after confession everything about his parents and being a noble. The two obviously didn't get along, but it hurt a little to think Sabo still hid it from them.

"I was his replacement. Mother and Father realized Sabo's lack of smarts, so they brought me into the household as a respectable heir they could be proud of."

"Sabo wasn't dumb," Luffy growled, defensive. "He knew more about navigation than anyone, and which mushrooms are safe to eat, and how to make a crocodile open its mouth when it swallows you whole…"

"Useless knowledge for a noble."

"But not for a pirate!"

"And being a pirate got him killed, didn't it?" Stelly risked edging forward, convinced he could chase the scrawny wild girl out. If he defended the house, Father would reward him. "Got blown up because he was flying a Jolly Roger."

"…What?" The word was soft, dispersing in the space between them like a wisp of smoke. Even now, Dogura refused to tell them the full story of what happened that day.

"He tried to sail past a ship carrying the Tenryuubito while parading his pirate flag and had a cannon turned on him. Serves him right. Dear big brother was no better than the rest of you human scum."

Feeling secure in his position of authority, sure she didn't dare assault him, Stelly ignored the way Luffy's fingers curled slowly into fists. Like a fool, he ignored how hard she was trembling. The ragged straw hat veiled her expression.

He made the mistake of _assuming_.

"No one bothered mourning - not Father, not Mother. Certainly not me. Not a single tear shed for that wasted effor-"

Luffy swung more quickly than he could follow. One second he stood there insulting his lucky break, and the next he hit the wall with obscene force, pain exploding through his jaw. Blood welled from his swollen lower lip.

She was no longer interested in hearing anything he had to say.

A terrible, sick rage churned her stomach. How someone could both call Sabo brother and mock him with all seriousness Luffy could not, _would_ not understand; the hate she'd felt at the sight of Sabo's father doubled and ignited, burning away what little reason she had left.

Luffy yanked Stelly in by the collar and threw him bodily across the room, where he smacked against a dresser, sending it crashing down. Drawers slid open and ejected their contents. Sets of clothing - those of a small boy - and a litter of knickknacks skittered across the floor to rest at Luffy's feet. As she stepped over them, she recognized a white swathe of material that could only be Sabo's neckerchief.

"So you didn't ruin everything," Luffy said, stuffing the cloth in her pocket. Stelly crawled backward only to have his escape blocked by the dresser.

With no way back and most certainly none forward, Stelly recovered enough to begin shrieking for all he was worth. His mother was in the house, along with their servants. They would hear. They would help, because he was nobility and it was the duty of those of lower status to protect him from wild beasts like the one currently advancing on him with no hint of remorse or mercy.

"Please!" he bawled, hands raised in entreaty. "There must me something you want! Money? Food? I can get it for you! Anything at all!"

Luffy could make out faint footsteps heading their way. _Let them come_, she thought. _They'll never know what hit 'em_.

"Unless you can bring Sabo back from the dead, there isn't anything I want from a stupid bowl head like _you_," Luffy said, voice low with palpable anger. It felt good to punch his flat nose flatter and hear it break, that sharp crunch of cartilage shattering beneath her knuckles.

Stelly screamed as blood gushed down his chin. Why was it taking so long for aid to arrive? At this rate his precious face would be permanently scarred!

Luffy brought her fist back to hit him again, but a flash of red caught her eye. She turned to look and saw a thing she'd believed lost for good -

"_Whatcha doin'?" she asked, craning her neck to see what it was Sabo held between his hands. He pursed his lips, considering._

"_All right, guess I'll tell you." Sabo beckoned her closer. "But you've got to promise to keep it a secret, okay?"_

"_I promise!" she swore at once. Sabo nodded and offered up his discovery for her inspection._

_It was a lengthy string of large red beads, dirty but somehow intact despite having been salvaged from the trash mountains of Grey Terminal. She reached out to touch, loving how smooth and shiny they were under the layers of grime._

"_A surprise for Ace."_

_She bounced excitedly. "This necklace is amazing, Sabo! I bet he'll grumble a lot but wear it every day."_

_Sabo grinned, ruffling her hair with affection._

"_Let's give it to him together."_

- and her vision blurred abruptly as she remembered, eyes fixed on those very same beads, dusty now but otherwise undamaged. They'd never had the chance to…

Luffy shoved Stelly out of the way, her interest in beating him unconscious draining away as she clutched the necklace to her chest protectively. The footsteps were a lot nearer now; unwilling to risk loosing her precious bit of loot in the approaching fight, Luffy decided it was time to hightail it back to Mt. Colbo.

Her first step towards the window was aborted by a sudden pressure around her ankle. She looked down to see Stelly gripping at her with what was probably all his strength. "HU'Y, HU'Y THE CRIM'N'L IF GET'IN' A'AY!"

Apparently she hadn't hit him hard enough.

"Difficult to yell with a busted nose?" Luffy asked, and lifted one sandaled foot to stamp on the rest of his face. Stelly released her with a howl, hands coming up to cover his wrecked mouth - but not before spitting a tooth onto the carpet.

She escaped through the window just as a group of burly men rammed their way inside. One charged her, but Luffy jumped to a higher piece of roof and left him reeling for balance. Luffy fled across the rooftops until she spotted the dividing wall and, beads tossed around her neck for safekeeping, stretched out her arms in preparation for flight.

Of all the abilities her Devil Fruit power had given her, this was by far her favorite: defying gravity. With a powerful heave, she soared away from High Town and over the lower section of the city. Wind whipped at her face and hair, would have torn the straw hat from her head if not for a strong hand clamped across to keep it in place; Luffy laughed with the joy of it, shouting greetings at the shocked expressions of those below -

She was so distracted by the awesome sight of buildings streaking by (why hadn't she tried this before?) that she failed to notice her slow descent, or the tall and proud outer wall of Goa hurtling towards her at great speeds -

Luffy struck stone feet first, muscles twanging as the impact was absorbed by her body, only its rubber nature preventing every bone in her legs from being destroyed. The wall fractured and caved, sending Luffy and a mass of rubble tumbling to the ground. A larger piece fell against her spine.

People gathered around her, drawn by what they were sure was a fatal accident while Luffy lay still, blinking dust out of her eyes and wondering where her hat had gone and where the heck that wall had come from. She'd _intended_ to land in Grey Terminal.

She spotted her hat not far away, out of range of the rubble and miraculously unsquashed. The beads were similarly undamaged, at least what Luffy could see of them, and she shrugged off the chunk of stone and got to her feet to retrieve her treasure. Many in the growing crowd gaped openly as she stuck her hat back where it belonged and glanced around to see where she was, a part of Edge Town she'd seemingly missed; Luffy's eyes widened as she saw the very thing she'd been searching for perched cheerfully in the display window of a small shop.

Luffy shoved passed the group of gawkers and pressed her face to the glass. The shape, color, even the styled goggles perfectly reminded her of Ace - she pictured her brother wearing it, skull medallion swinging wildly in the sea breeze or brim pulled low as he napped - but it was more than just its appearance that utterly convinced Luffy _this_ was the one meant for Ace: in place of an ordinary goggle strap sat a string of beads, identical to the one around her neck.

The shop owner came to stand in the doorway, gaze shifting restlessly from where Luffy stood to the ruined wall. He startled when she spoke.

"Hey mister," she said, "how much is that hat?"

* * *

A/N - I know I'm screwing with canon - Ace isn't wearing his beads as he sails away from Dawn Island, and his hat is black - but whateva, the idea came to me just begging to be written.

Until now this fic has been nothing but fluff, fluff, fluff, major fluff, fluff…so I'm adding a little violence to mix. Now it'll look more like fluff, fluff, fluff, violence, fluff, fluff, violence, fluff, fluff, fluff, fluff and end with GORE then GINORMOUS FLUFF. Awesoooooome.

This is the first of two parts of what was originally supposed to be an interlude for Ace's birthday. But it kept growing, and growing, and growing until I was like wtf self interludes are defined as being short wut is this. So there you go.

About my new 'dunno when I'll post' thing, there is a bright side! The longer it takes to catch up with the manga, the more of the series I can write. Once I catch up, I'm not going to wait around for weeks at a time for new chapters - I'll be moving on to other arcs, like Blackbeard (where the gore comes into it wooooow exciting) and Raftel and all the good stuff that comes after.

Next post will be whichever I finish first:

Part Two - Luffy has been leaving early and coming home late, but refuses to tell Ace where she's going or what she's doing. His birthday is rapidly approaching, and Ace can't help but be curious…

OR

Chapter Five - After Arlong is defeated, Nami decides to take what she wants. Ace gets his hands on Luffy's bounty poster and wonders what his sibling is up to _this_ time.

I hope you guys like Marco/Ace.


	7. not where they should be

Pairings (this chapter): Nami/Luffy, Zoro/Luffy, Marco/Ace

Rating: PG-15 because Ace. Just…Ace.

**Warning**: I wouldn't normally warn for slash (most of my stories are obviously so) but since this is largely a het fic, I guess now is an exception.

There will most likely be more slash pairings in the future. The only pairings written in stone are those paramount to the storyline, so who knows.

Before we start, let me ask just one thing. Would it hurt to take thirty seconds out of your day to leave a comment? If you're favoriting, tell me why. Leave a sentence or two explaining what you love and what you don't. If this causes me to sound like a commentwhore so be it - I'm just saying I appreciate your encouragement. When I see a new comment, it makes my freakin' day.

There, drama is done forever. Luffyko START.

5 - not where they should be

Nami stands in the doorway of Cocoyashi's only medical center, where the most hideously injured of her nakama - it almost frightens her how easily she can think the word now and, though if she is wholly honest with herself, this began before she returned to stare her nightmare in the face - lays recovering.

Zoro is sleeping on one of the many beds populating the room, bandages obscuring his entire chest. Luffy has finally passed out too, curled up at the end of Zoro's bed like a cat, arms draped over the swordsman's legs and face pressed to the arch of his foot. Usopp had covered them with a blanket not long ago but the blue swath of material already lies abandoned on the floor. Even while unconscious, their desire to have bare skin touching cannot be hindered by anything. Certainly not a thing so fragile. Nami is shocked the poor, defenseless blanket hasn't been shredded.

With an exasperated shake of her head, Nami leaves, letting the door swing shut behind her, catching the knob before it can slam; she doubts the noise would disturb them, but on the off chance it might…

The village is still alight with joy, the relief at finally being free of Arlong's hold now more drunken revelry than cheerful celebration yet no less meaningful for it. Nami watches two men stumble past, arms entwined and singing at the top of their appallingly off key voices. Tears glimmer in their eyes.

Nami loves seeing this, what she's been dreaming of for so long she swears that forever has passed by twice over. If she hadn't met Luffy, if she'd continued writing her off as another good for nothing pirate, blinded by her deep and justifiable hate of those that sailed the seas beneath skull and crossbones, this wouldn't be possible.

Again there is that fear, this time of owing one person so much of herself, but strong enough to nearly smother the fear entirely is the understanding that Luffy will never, ever ask for anything in return.

Except, of course, that Nami join her crew.

Would it really be so bad? By Nami's definition, Luffy barely constitutes a 'pirate' - someone who pillages and kills and ruins the lives of innocents for the fun of it, for the simple, cruel pleasure of knowing they could, because they are strong. Luffy is none of those things. Even her Jolly Roger is nothing to be intimidated by.

But there is an animal in her, a snarling beast that sets Luffy apart from ordinary men and women of the sea. Her fights are bloody. She revels in it, enjoys crushing those that push her beyond the limits of rational thought. When Luffy is truly angry, even Nami is afraid. She almost feels sorry for Arlong. Almost.

Nami leaves the raucous village behind her and heads towards the coast, where a familiar grave watches over the shifting tides. Moonlight illuminates her way, and Nami is surefooted as she approaches the marker, the ultimate symbol of Bellemere's love for her daughters.

It's peaceful out here, away from the jubilant noise, but not so far that Nami cannot hear the proof of her extended family fully alive for the first time in too long. She reaches out to touch the cross, wood weatherworn and smooth beneath her fingers. The only way this night could be better is if Bellemere were here to laugh and dance and drink with her.

She doesn't know how much time passes, loses herself in the swirling reflection and pull of the waters she's charted with such detail. It isn't until someone sits beside her that Nami comes back to herself.

Luffy is there. The pirate stretches out on the grass to gaze up at the moon, gloriously full and bright as though it too were celebrating.

Luffy is always there. Nami wouldn't have it any other way.

She bites her lip to hold back the laughter bubbling up inside. How easily her mind has been changed. How easily she has been drawn in by this odd creature.

Nami plucks the straw hat from Luffy's head and places it on her own, taking pleasure from the weight of it, the stray bits of straw that catch at her hair and scratch her skull, things Luffy is oblivious to. Her friend tears her eyes from the moon to look at Nami instead, smiling so beautifully at the sight of her hat being worn by someone she considers an irreplaceable component of her life that Nami just can't resist kissing her.

Luffy is docile under her, lips parting to let Nami's tongue inside to do as it pleases, hesitantly exploring everything she can access at such an awkward angle until Luffy grabs her shoulders and tugs her down so Nami is laying against her chest, and suddenly it's perfect.

Flattened by the bindings it's almost as though Luffy is a boy, except her mouth is softer, whole body loose in surrender as she lets Nami have her way. Luffy's hands stay gentle on her arms and upper back, never straying beneath her clothes or further downward. She knows what Nami needs and wants, and Nami can't help but love her for it. A friend - four friends - she's so fully at ease around isn't something Nami expected to find in this lifetime, or any other for that matter.

_Thank you._

The navigator keeps sharing kisses with her chosen captain - the decision has already been made, as if there was really any other option after everything they've gone through together - until Luffy goes pliant, her tongue so sloppy saliva smears between them, and Nami pulls away to see she's fallen asleep again.

Nami giggles so hard she trembles and wetness gathers in her eyes. When the last spasms of laughter subside, she rearranges Luffy's limbs into a more comfortable position and feels no shame for using the rubberwoman as a mattress. Sleeping under the stars, her mother close by, isn't bad at all.

* * *

Nami's shriek engulfs the Merry. Zoro and Luffy are up and crouched and ready for a fight as Usopp echoes her scream and flees into the relative safety of the galley. Sanji is at Nami's side a second, ready to save his precious flower from whatever it is that's causing her such distress.

When no physical enemy appears after a few tense beats, Luffy and Zoro drop their stances and peer around in confusion.

"What is it, my stunning angel? Tell me what's wrong so I can soothe your fear away with my ~love~!" Sanji coos. Nami slaps a hand to his face and forces him away, newspaper falling open. A piece of paper drifts to the floor. Zoro picks it up and snickers at what he sees. He offers it to Luffy.

"Waaaaah, so cool!" she beams, holding the paper high above her head and waving it about energetically.

"No!" Nami moans. "Bounties aren't cool, they get pirates into deep, deep trouble. We'll won't be left alone from now on! Hunters will attack us wherever we go! And the Marines_-_"

"Yeah, but it's nothing worth worrying about. Luffy and I will just beat 'em up. Right, Captain?"

"You betcha." Luffy grins at Zoro, who smirks back, one hand curled casually around the hilt of his katana. Nami groans and rolls her eyes at their eagerness for battle. Honestly, those two would get them all killed one day.

_I wonder if Ace will see this? _Luffy wonders, more excited by that one thought alone than the many zeros on her wanted poster. _Heh, I'm on my way, big brother. Just you wait!_

_

* * *

_  
Ace has no idea what time it is. With his face smothered by a silky swathe of azure and gold that burns without burning, he can't see the window or how much sunlight is pooling across the floor. It _had_ been just after lunch when Ace wandered into their room, but as usual there was no telling how long he'd slept.

He yawns and rolls over to escape the soft down tickling at his nose, comfortable and perfectly willing to stay exactly where he is until the ship was attacked or freak Grand Line weather tried to drown them all. Nothing less, not even Pops himself, could drag Ace away from his cozy nest of sheets.

Burrowing gently against an elongated neck, Ace feels something drape across his waist, hotter than the rest of his bed partner. He knows without looking it's the chain-like feathers of a tail urging him closer.

As he's about to comply with the unspoken demand, there's a pounding on the door and a deafening male voice, one Ace doesn't care to identify, blasts apart his peace.

"Ace? Are you in there, Commander?" Several other men echo the question more quietly.

Maybe if he ignores them they'll take the hint and fuck off. Sadly, his division isn't the brightest around; another volley of banging and yelling follows shortly.

A huff of laughter teases Ace's hair. "They aren't the type to give up just by being ignored. Best say something, yoi."

Mumbling in reluctant agreement, he pokes his head out from beneath a wingtip long enough to roar, "Unless we're all going to die in the next five seconds, go away! Tell Pops I'm taking the day off." Not true, of course - no such thing as a day off for the commanders of Whitebeard - but he could dream.

There are uncertain whispers, and Ace thinks they may actually do as he says, but one brave soul steps up to the plate. "It just, um, the new wanted posters are out and one has a name you've mentioned before. This guy, the two of you look similar. Do you have a brother?"

A brother? His mind conjures a hazy image of Sabo before he remembers that one, he and Sabo looked nothing alike, and two, someone ten years gone had little need for a bounty. Ace edges further out from under his feather blanket.

"What's the name?" Luffy pops up next, but he discards the thought. Why would Luffy be called a guy? Sure, she's not the girliest around, but her chest is kinda hard to miss. Those curves had never failed to startle the unsuspecting.

"Monkey D. Luffy."

Ace nearly falls from the bed in shock. How on earth…?

He uncurls and sits up, dropping over the rim of the study wooden platform he'd been lazing on to stumble across the floor, tripping on strewn articles of clothing as he went.

"Let me see," he says, throwing the door ajar. The five pirates in the hall all splutter and glance away at once. Ace looks down at himself then over his shoulder, where his pants are dangling from a light fixture.

One man shoves out his hand, offering a folded piece of brown paper between thumb and index finger. "Here, sir."

Ace takes it and shakes it open. What he sees makes him gape.

"Well, Commander?" None of the men have left, despite being given no choice but to stare at the ceiling in respect of the privacy Ace doesn't give two shits about. "Is he your brother? Or a cousin?"

"My brother…" Ace says faintly, and closes the door in their faces.

He collapses on the other bed, the normal one meant for those days when everyone preferred to be human. The nest really wasn't built to hold them both, but Ace enjoyed napping up there and Marco hardly minded snuggling to make a little extra space.

The phoenix in question lifts his head to peer at him as Ace continues to gawk at the crinkled wanted poster. Luffy looks cheerful as always, if a bit beat up, and though he's glad to see it her chest keeps drawing his attention; the picture was taken far enough away that her upper body is visible - the photographer was too nervous to get close enough for a face only shot, Ace is sure - and her breasts are _not where they should be_.

"W-what," Ace stutters, "what the hell did Luffy _do_?" Breasts don't vanish into thin air. Especially not _those_ breasts, which Ace had been up close and personal with on countless occasions. Warm in his mouth, yielding under his hands, the ultimate pillow for his narcoleptic head…

Marco coasts down from his perch to join Ace on the bed, curious about what had his friend so riled. The picture itself is far from intimidating, just a goofily grinning boy with more than a passing resemblance to Ace - Monkey D. Luffy, someone Ace tended to ramble about when he'd had too much to drink, voice slurred into near incoherence but eyes brimming with affection.

Feathers and flame give way to skin and hair until Marco sits in his human form, places one hand on Ace's should and peers closer, asking, "Did you say he's your brother?"

"Yeah, but she's..." Marco raises an eyebrow at the mix of gender specific terms and takes another look at the photo. There's a suggestion of femininity in the fullness of her lips, the length of her lashes where they lay against her cheeks, but only if he squints, and only at a certain angle. You certainly couldn't tell by her chest, flat as it was.

"But where are her boobs?" Ace says, strained, clutching the poster with unwarranted force. "What did Luffy do to them?"

Marco thinks Ace might actually _cry_.

"So she doesn't normally look like that, yoi."

"No!" Ace yells, raking his fingers through his hair so roughly a few strands part from his skull. "She has boobs! _Nice_ boobs! I know _very well_ that her chest is all…curvy." He gestures at his own chest, hands arching out in an example of size.

The phoenix is more interested in that revealingly placed emphasis than how wonderful Monkey D. Luffy's breasts may or may not be. It's an odd thing to be panicking over, unless- "A lover, yoi?"

Ace nods, back to staring helplessly at her poster. "We're siblings in the same way you and I are, kinda unofficially adopted. We grew up together." He doesn't say anything else, but Marco can't imagine growing up in close quarters with Ace and not doing _something_ rash, and possibly very, very naked and can't even begin to feel jealous about sharing Ace with a girl he considers family.

Her smile is bright, wild, genuine. It reminds him of Ace, of the person Ace has become since accepting Whitebeard's mark.

Since Ace began sleeping in his bed.

So Marco makes a quiet sound of acceptance, and says, "Maybe she's binding them."

"Binding?" Ace frowns. "Doesn't seems like a very Luffy thing to do."

"A mystery easily solved," Marco says, relaxing backward onto the bed and bringing Ace with him, "by asking her the next time you meet, yoi."

Ace blinks and lets himself be dragged atop the first division commander. As their skin touches he's pleasantly reminded that they're both quite naked and he has better, less confusing things to be doing than plumbing the depths of Luffy's madness. Now that she's heading towards the Grand Line, they'll meet again sooner rather than later.

When Marco kisses him, Ace forgets everything else entirely.

At dinner that evening, he takes the poster with him and shoves it in the face of everyone he passes until his nakama being to scamper in the opposite direction whenever he approaches. Ace suspects they might be avoiding him. He can't think why.

Whitebeard is drinking sake under the stars as Ace makes his way over to his customary spot on deck. The old man musses Ace's hair with one enormous finger when Ace clambers into his lap, poster held between his teeth.

"Pops, this is my little brother!" he declares, full of pride. "Luffy wants to be Pirate King, but..." Ace shakes his head at the futility. Luffy is strong, most definitely - it isn't only pride at having trained her himself that encourages the thought - but his captain is stronger still, and always will be.

Whitebeard carefully accepts the paper Ace holds out and roars with laughter at what he sees. So there is another out there, another D who may even give his fiery son a run for his money - he just might have to try and recruit this brat too if she's going after One Piece. Really, kids these days…

Ace accepts the poster when his father hands it back with an approving tilt of his mouth and looks yet again at the numbers stamped across the front. Thirty million isn't half bad for a first bounty, and Ace is burning to know exactly what Luffy did to earn it. He bets it's something reckless and ridiculous and just like her. Ace grins in excitement.

He can't wait to find out.

* * *

Luffy sneezes. It's been happening over and over again all evening for no discernible reason, and Zoro is growing aggravated at the constant disruption.

"I think someone is talking about me," she says in answer to his quelling glare. "I can't help it!"

"Then tell whoever it is to shut the fuck up," Zoro growls, ignoring the sheer absurdity of the statement.

"How am I supposed to-" Luffy is cut off by the mother of all sneezes, one so harsh it sends her tumbling off Zoro's knees and slams her head against the unforgiving wood of Merry's deck. Zoro leans over her, hoping the blow to Luffy's skull will knock some sense into her. Not that it's ever worked before.

Luffy is unharmed, if a bit confused, sprawled half on the planks and half in Zoro's lap. Who could possibly be talking about her so much, and with such enthusiasm?

But it seems that the _whatever_ stops after that, and Luffy is free to curl up in Zoro's arms to share his post meal nap. She's sure she'll find out one of these days.

_Soon_, her instincts promise in a whisper. _Soon._

"Shishishishi," she laughs. Zoro's expression says she's acting even crazier than usual but that he doesn't much care, that Luffy is free to be as insane as she likes, as long as she does it _quietly_ so they can doze in peace.

So she nuzzles further into his embrace and let's the peculiar image of Ace, happy and surrounded by family, lull her to sleep.

* * *

A/N - Over half of this chapter is Marco/Ace. Why, you ask? Because it's my newest OTP and the muse is kinda stuck on 'em right now. M/A is gonna be a pretty significant pairing throughout, so I hope you guys like it, or at the very least doesn't drive you to claw your eyes out.

…which would be terrible, because 3500 words of chapter seven - and possibly eight - are Marco/Ace, with no end in sight. But hey, this chapter was only finished so soon because M/A is super fun to write. My brain went all _enthusiastic_.

Another thing - Marco's yoi, yay or nay? I personally think it's adorable, but if it annoys the rest of you I'll refrain from using it from now on, yoi. (imightbelying)

Next chapter: Usopp finds himself faced with a difficult decision, Bon Clay is shocked by unexpected boobs, and Chopper is let in on a secret that could shake the world (with laughter).

Unless it's the second part of interlude two, in which case none of the above is true.


	8. everyone in the world

Pairings (this chapter): Zoro/Luffy, slight Nami/Luffy/Sanji, platonic Luffy/Chopper

Rating: PG-15 because Zoro insisted on taking Luffy's clothes off, that perv…

**Warning**: Nothing, really. ZoLu being frisky as per usual. The Luffy/Chopper is not in the least bit shippy, I promise.

YOU GUYS. Thank you so much for all your reviews! I was touched that anyone actually took the time to read my rant and then give me actual feedback. The number just kept growing, and I was beyond shocked. Keep 'em coming! I'm gonna make this story as epic as possible for you awesome peeps.

Having said that, I feel kinda bad because this chapter has a very fillerish feeling to it. It touches on Loguetown, Whiskey Peak, Mr. 3, Chopper, and Bon-chan. But you know what comes next, right? Alabasta! *excited*

Oh, and this doesn't follow the manga exactly. I was lazy and didn't reread the relevant chapters. Forgive me?

6 - everyone in the world

_Zoro…_

_Sanji…_

_Usopp…_

_Nami…_

_Sorry, but…_

_I'm dead._

These were words Zoro never expected to hear from Luffy's mouth. She was the one who always got up. She was the one who refused to back down. She was the one who carelessly declared herself the future Pirate King.

They hadn't known each other long (long enough to share their dreams and their bodies, screams the irritating sting behind his eyes), but he's come to believe his chosen captain when she spouts what most would take as nonsense. Zoro wouldn't be following her into the Pirate's Graveyard if he didn't.

And yet even as they ran, Luffy miraculously unharmed, Zoro's heart refuses to slow its desperate pounding. She'd said it. She'd said it and _smiled_ and Zoro is angry. His stupid captain, the woman who's become both best friend and lover, had just lain there and smiled and done nothing with death only an inch away.

Zoro is furious.

They get separated again (goddamn Marines, always getting in his fucking way, especially that goddamn Marine with _her_ face) and all Zoro can do is wait on the Merry, heart still beating a rapid _thumpthumpthump_ and blood racing hotly through his veins. Even the torrential rain cannot cool him.

When Luffy finally reappears, she's raring to go. They find the lighthouse. They set their course. And then Zoro can't fucking take it anymore.

He grabs Luffy by her vest and hauls her towards the men's cabin, sends an oppressive glare over his shoulder to make sure no one dares interrupt. The hatch has barely shut before Zoro shoves Luffy towards the couch and follows her down, pressing her into the cushions with his full weight. Luffy is powerful, but this is all about mass. He's bulked up with muscle, and though Luffy squirms experimentally, she cannot get free. Zoro pins her hands against a pillow just in case.

"Zoro?" she asks, nose scrunched in confusion but eyes so trusting most of the anger that had driven him to this drains away. Silence takes them as his breath hitches once and steadies, heartbeat lessening as he becomes aware of their soaked clothes hanging heavy and how warm Luffy is despite it, wet hair falling in tiny curls across her cheeks. Luffy isn't resisting him.

Zoro sighs and drops his face to the crook of Luffy's neck, leaving it there to hide the flush spreading to the tips of his ears until Luffy frees her wrists from his loosened grip to push pleadingly at Zoro's shoulders.

He lets himself be propped up by Luffy's strength, closes his eyes and says, "You go unsupervised for a few hours and managed to get in all kinds of trouble. I can't turn my back for a second."

It's quiet for a moment, and then a soft _oh_ lets Zoro know that Luffy hears the words he can't bring himself to say. She smiles, kisses the corner of his tense mouth; it's as much of an apology as Luffy can give, and almost a promise. Luffy is the captain - she can't swear not to die. This is a promise to never go down without fighting to the very last.

Zoro will take what he can get.

Her clothes come off and so do his. Bare skin sticky with rain and sweat, Luffy arches against him, and Zoro doesn't once move his hand from where her pulse throbs with life beneath his palm.

* * *

Vivi sees their fight. It's brutal and raw and she thinks they may actually kill each other. Even after Nami has smashed them out of the rage, Luffy and Zoro keep pulling and pushing at whatever of the other they can reach. Everything gets explained, and though the captain and his swordsman seem to forgive and forget Vivi is left with the impression that they don't really get along.

Vivi sees them making out. Spread out on the deck to enjoy the sun, swapping the sort of deep, wet kisses that leave Vivi blushing from just a brief glimpse.

"Better get used to it," Nami says. She squeezes Vivi's shoulder in sympathy. "They do this all day, every day."

"But that fight…I was convinced they were rivals, or at least not friends." Vivi struggles to look away from the proof that she was very, very wrong.

"I can't pretend to understand the minds of fighting idiots, but they're actually the closest on the ship. Luffy and Zoro like each other a lot. _A_ _lot_." Nami winks, lips quirked suggestively. Then she settles into her customary deck chair and ignores her frisky nakama.

Vivi sees the affection between them, the way Zoro tickles Luffy's ribs just to hear him laugh, and getting used to it is the easiest thing in the world.

(Her discovery of Luffy's gender is accidental. It's also the day Vivi learns a valuable lesson in Straw Hat survival: whether it's the bathroom or storage deck, always knock before entering.

Always.)

* * *

Usopp can hardly believe what his eyes are telling him. He finally stumbles across Luffy, only to see her calmly sipping tea while their friends are being slowly smothered by wax. He'd expected that Luffy would've already beat the bastards up and gotten Zoro, Nami, and Vivi free from the strange tower that was turning them into statues.

But she hasn't. Luffy is _drinking tea_.

After a few seconds the initial shock subsides, and as his mind clears slightly Usopp notices patterns painted onto the back of Luffy's vest, the palate of colors and brushes sitting beside a girl he's certain is an enemy. If she had some sort of Fruit ability, a power that would allow her to control Luffy with the paint covering her back, it was up to Usopp to get it off.

He tries yelling at his captain, hoping his voice can reach the part of her he _knows_ must be in there - Luffy has the strongest will he's ever seen. It wouldn't be smothered by some lame emotion controlling paint. But she doesn't respond, just sits there with her tea and fake expression of content until Usopp gives up.

There is only one other way he can think of that would separate Luffy from the paint, but it would be dangerous; not because she'd be hurt - Usopp is pretty sure that small of an explosion would hardly faze her - but the point is to burn away any clothing the paint has touched. The vest obviously needs to be destroyed. It's what lies beneath it that makes Usopp hesitate to fire. If he miscalculates, Luffy's chest bindings will also be burned and she'd be left naked from the waist up. While Luffy may not mind parading around the Merry without a shirt, that's _different_. That's among nakama. These are enemies who may very well try and take advantage of her gender if he accidentally reveals it.

But there really isn't much of a choice. The three caught on the weird wax structure are being swallowed, and Luffy will probably be able to take Mr. 3 even with her breasts exposed. He knows Luffy wouldn't value her secret over the lives of her crew.

So he raises his arms, evens his breathing and aims with the utmost precision. The tension of the slingshot soothes his nerves. Usopp draws the rubber bands back until they reach their limit, strain at his muscles.

And lets go.

"_Nah nah, Usopp," Luffy says, poking at the gunner's shoulder. "I've got a really really awesome idea for a prank. One that's gonna include everyone!"_

_Usopp glances up from where he's combining a new mix of powders for extra explosive power. "A ship-wide prank?"_

"_Nope! Not everyone on the Merry. I mean everyone in the world!" Luffy grins, the grin Usopp has come to recognize as trouble of the sort that'll get them severe beatings by Nami. The kind of grin that means adventure isn't far off._

_He sets aside his materials and gives Luffy his full attention, small bubbles of anticipation building in his gut. "Tell me."_

In the few moments it takes for the smoke to clear enough for Usopp to get a good look at his captain, he's sure that this is the end of one of the most ingenious plots he's ever had the honor of hearing. Luffy did, on occasion (very, very rare occasion), have a truly stunning level of insight. If they'd been able to pull it off, no prank could top it. Ever.

Then he sees Luffy standing up, vest reduced to tatters but by some miracle the bandages beneath merely singed, hanging on by a thread. Usopp whoops aloud with joy. Surely Luffy would end this before the bindings gave way. She was awesome like that.

As his captain begins her fight with 3, Usopp busies himself with the problem of freeing their nakama. He's so busy, in fact, he doesn't notice when Luffy and 3 disappear into the trees.

Luffy frowns in confusion at the multiple wax statues 3 had made to hide from her. He was talking, trying to throw her off, but the longer he rattled on about instincts or whatever the easier it became for Luffy to locate him. She's pinpointed the general area in which 3 has camouflaged himself and draws back her arm, ready to smash everything when she hears a tearing sound. Material ripping apart.

The pressure around her chest is suddenly gone, and Luffy blinks at the dirty bandages now piled around her feet. There's another sound, this one of strangled shock, accompanied by a stray spray of blood. She zeroes in on 3's position and sends her fist flying, watching in satisfaction as the bastard is crushed into unconsciousness.

She approaches his fallen body and scratches her head in confusion at the blood still leaking from his nose. Ah well, she'd beaten him just in time. Luffy glances down at her bare chest and grins. It'd be safe to head back to the clearing by now. Zoro would've taken care of that annoying guy with exploding snot.

Their expressions are too hilarious when she walks back to them without covering herself. Sanji in particular, as he splutters and swoons and tries valiantly not to stare, draping his jacket around her shoulders. Luffy thinks it kinda odd as blood starts leaking from his nose, just like 3.

Then Nami falls ill, and she forgets about it.

* * *

The girl and blond guy are more severely injured. Her, a rare infection ready to take her life at any moment. Him, shattered ribs and broken spine and dangerous internal bleeding. The dark haired boy is almost healthy by comparison, and Chopper does as he wishes, does the necessary surgery and makes sure his friends are stable before moving on to the strange human who'd dared climb through raging wind and snow just to find someone capable of saving them with no care for himself.

It's this boy he finds most fascinating. Few humans, very few, would risk their lives just to find a doctor. As Chopper stands over him, carefully removing the little clothing he has left to observe the extent of his frostbite, he can't stop staring. The boy's fingers are shredded. His toes are torn open. His body is frozen and fragile, but this same body carried him through the impossible.

His chest is already bandaged, but not by Chopper's hand. They're dirty and frayed, so Chopper finds a pair of scissors to cut them away, and screams.

Doctorine slams open the door and marches inside as his stunned noises continue. "Is that idiot dead?"

"N-no," Chopper whimpers. "But he's a she!"

"Of course she is." Doctorine sets a bowl of warm water and a soft cloth beside the girl's bed. "Problem?"

"It just surprised me is all. Please let me do that!" Chopper takes the cloth from his mentor and cradles one of her blood soaked hands in his own, gentle as he washes it clean. When there isn't a trace of blood left on her skin, Chopper takes a fresh roll of bandages and a pot of salve; he smooths the medicine over the worst of her frostbite and bandages as much of her as possible, but doesn't wind them tightly enough to rebind her chest.

His fascination grows by the second. Doctorine was the only strong woman he'd met. Until now.

The fascination is still there when she wakes up not long after, eyes clear and body overflowing with energy despite her wounds. Chopper is the first thing she looks at, and while his instinct is to hide behind whatever he can Chopper holds his ground, too curious despite her being human.

This lasts until she opens her mouth. What pours out is an obscene amount of drool and words that send Chopper running for his life.

"MEAT!"

As Chopper is chased through the castle, their ruckus draws the attention of her blond friend, who's face lights up. Chopper almost believes he's about to be saved, and then the man says something about 'stew for Nami-swan' and there are suddenly two people - that should by all rights be bedridden - tearing after him.

Later, when the _nice_ girl has convinced them (_pirates_, Chopper thinks with a small shiver of both excitement and fear) that reindeer stew is not on the menu, he dares sneaking back to check on her. Nami is human, but at least she doesn't want to eat him.

He cracks open the door and freezes when he sees Luffy and Sanji are with her, curled up with Nami in Luffy's lap, face pressed to her hair, breathing her in. Sanji has one of her bandaged hands raised to his lips, ghosting soft kisses against each knuckle. Luffy smiles happily and laughs and hugs them firmly enough that Sanji swears and pushes her away. But not far.

Nami and Sanji, grateful for being saved despite the cost. Luffy, simply glad they were alive.

Chopper watches them. _Pirates_, he thinks again, and touches a hoof to the odd ache in his chest. _Doctor-_

_

* * *

_  
"Wait!" Luffy yells after the fleeing reindeer. "You gotta be my nakama!"

"I can't sail with humans!" Chopper yells back, and doesn't stop running.

"But you're in on it now!"

"In on what?"

"My super prank!" Luffy slides in the snow as Chopper finally slows to a halt and darts behind a tree, hiding backwards.

"Super prank?" he asks. There's no reason not to; Chopper is running, but only as a last show of resistance. His mind is already made.

"It's a secret, so you've gotta come closer." Luffy beckons, and Chopper inches towards her. When he's within arms reach, Luffy leans in and whispers insanity against his ear.

Chopper laughs until he cries, then tells Luffy in no uncertain terms that she _wasn't funny damn it._ "Can you do that? Keep it a secret for so long?"

"I can if I've got my crew to help me."

"…Your crew of monsters?"

"Didn't you know?" Luffy leans down so the tip of her nose touches Chopper's. "Monsters are the best at keeping secrets."

* * *

It was a stupid game Usopp started to wipe the sad look from their newest nakama's face. He'd said the first thing that popped into his mind and just sort of went from there. In hindsight, this had probably been a bad idea.

"I've kissed many girls in my wild and reckless life," Usopp boasts, gesturing grandly at his mouth. "And when I return home, the lovely Kaya will be eagerly waiting for me to bestow a talented kiss on her lips."

"Usopp is so experienced!" Chopper looked up at the sniper in awe.

Across the deck, Zoro snorts in disbelief. Usopp turns on him and asks, "What about you? How many girls has the great Zoro-sama kissed?"

"Only one," the swordsman answers casually, settling his swords in the crook of his neck in preparation for a nap. "Luffy fucking loves kissing, though."

Chopper gapes at Luffy where she sits watching them from the crow's nest. But if she and Zoro were together in _that_ way, did Zoro know that Sanji treated her so tenderly? He'd thought there might've been something between Luffy and the cook…

Sanji, who'd been handing out steaming cups of hot chocolate to the other women, straightens up. "I've kissed Luffy too!" His eyes turn to hearts, and Chopper wonders if that's safe, or even humanly feasible. "She's so ~sweeeeet~ and the absolute best." Sanji swoons playfully as Luffy blows him a teasing kiss.

Chopper glances at Zoro, but the swordsman is either already asleep or just doesn't care - his eyes are closed, hand wrapped loosely around the sheaths of his katana but making no move to draw them.

"I've kissed her too," Nami adds, rolling her eyes to show how big a deal it was. Vivi almost chokes on her cocoa.

They really were an odd group of humans.

"What about you?" Usopp grins at Chopper, curious and a smidgen challenging.

"Me? W-well, I'm not really attracted to human women, and most people were terrified by the sight of me…" Chopper says, hiding behind his hooves.

Usopp's grin falters. "Sorry, Chopper. I wasn't thinking-"

"It's okay," Chopper hurries to assure him. "You didn't know."

Luffy leaps from the crow's nest and lands next to them with a click of sandals, shouldering Usopp out of the way and reaching for Chopper. He doesn't have time to be properly worried before she's lifting him into her arms to plant a short, kind kiss on his snout.

"Now Chopper has kissed a girl too!" Luffy declares, and then goes to flop in Zoro's lap. The swordsman hadn't been sleeping after all - an arm snakes around her waist to trap her there.

And suddenly, the ache in Chopper's chest is gone.

* * *

Mr. 2 Bon Clay, he called himself. Luffy grumbles as she picks herself up from the blow that had sent her flying. She'd be pissed under different circumstances, but when she turns around to punch the guy's face in, she sees a near identical version of her posing in Mr. 2's weird clothes. It's strange for two seconds. Then it's just freaking cool.

"Waaaaaaah!" Luffy yells, eyes shining with delight and all thoughts of beating Bon Clay down evaporating like steam. "How are you doing that? It's so awesome!"

Bon Clay mumbles something in reply, too jumbled for Luffy to catch, gaze riveted to the chest of his stolen body. He glances rapidly back and forth between the breasts he hadn't expected and the boy-who-was-actually-a-girl he'd copied them from.

Luffy sees him looking, sees _where_ he's looking, and has a moment of confusion until she remembers that her bound chest is something she now wants to purposely keep hush-hush.

Before Luffy has a chance to say anything, Bon Chan shakes off his shock and changes into her other nakama. Much dancing ensues to her great delight, and it isn't until Bon Clay - now Bon-chan - is leaving that Luffy's mind prods at her.

"Bon-chan," she says, stopping the okama as he's about to board his ship. "Can you not tell anyone I'm a girl? It's a ~secret~." Luffy brings a finger to her lips and smiles brazenly around it.

"Of course, Straw-chan! What are friends for, if not keeping secrets?" Bon-chan claps a hand to his chest before singing goodbye and returning to his own ship. Luffy waves until it's out of sight.

When she hops down from the railing she'd been standing on, Zoro is there, scowling rather fiercely.

"What's wrong?" Luffy asks. Sure, Bon-chan wasn't exactly the swordsman's favorite person in the world, but he shouldn't be glaring quite _that_ much. She, Usopp, and Chopper had enjoyed his company.

"I don't like it," Zoro says, tone dark and expression darker. "Some guy is running around with your body on recall. He can do whatever he wants with it."

This time it's Luffy who glares, poking her grumpy first mate in the nose. "Bon-chan will keep his promise. He's definitely that kinda guy."

"That's not what I care about," he mutters, the words straining from between his clenched teeth. "He could use your body to deceive people, or sleep with them, or get handsy with it."

Luffy cocks her head to the side and considers him, uncharacteristically calculating. Zoro feels the urge to squirm like a child being scolded, uncomfortable under Luffy's heavy stare. "What is it?" he snaps.

"Zoro is jealous!" she proclaims, smug with satisfaction. Zoro opens his mouth to protest that he is _not_, and never will be, but Luffy silences his protests with a lingering kiss. She grasps Zoro's face between her hands to hold him steady as her lips move leisurely over his. When Luffy pulls away, she says, "Don't worry about that. I trust Bon-chan."

The swordsman draws Luffy into his arms, hands on her hips and chests pressed together. "A stranger having you, I just don't like the thought," Zoro admits.

"I kiss and touch and play around with everyone all the time. You don't seem to mind that."

"Because they're nakama. It's different when the person is someone close," Zoro says, kissing Luffy again. "Someone I know won't shame you."

Luffy slips a hand beneath his haramaki and shirt to rub affectionate fingers over scarred skin. "That's good. I don't want you and Ace to fight…"

"Ace?" Zoro raises an eyebrow in question. Luffy had mentioned him once, but- "Who the hell is Ace?"

* * *

A/N - Wanna point out that when Luffyko says she 'plays around' with the crew, she doesn't mean it in a sexual way. Just so you know.

Yeah, sorry I jumped around so much. I didn't realize how much I was trying to cram in until it was finished. I'm also sorry for the wait; I desperately missed writing Sabo, so I ended up with a bunch of ASL drabbles instead of working on this. -_-

I'm really disappointed, actually; I had a Valentine's Day interlude planned with lots of ridiculously fluffy ZoLu. Eh, maybe I'll write it anyway.

But Alabasta is next, and that means Ace/Luffy reunion! I know quite a few of you have been looking forward to it, so I'll try not to take three weeks again. And it'll be pretty long too - the arc will probably take two chapters to cover.

Next chapter: Reunion! The siblings take advantage of that handy alley. Ace tells Luffy about Marco in good ol' flashback style. Love is discussed, and Zoro is pleased Luffy's brother doesn't want to pound his face in.


	9. a different feeling

Pairing (this chapter): Ace/Luffy, Marco/Ace, Zoro/Luffy

Rating: PG-15

**Warning**: Slash. Long flashbacks that will sear your eyes with italics.

Remember when I said the Alabasta arc would be long? I completely and utterly underestimated myself: this godforsaken chapter is over 6700 words. Six pages more than my longest one-shot.

4400 of those 6700 words are flashback (which are the italics, just reminding ya'll). Ace is actually mostly to blame, he's such a stubborn bastard that it just kept going and going and going and going…

Whatever. For those of you who wanted lengthy chapters, I've unwittingly granted your wish. Gimme some love! Review and let me know if this is too long, or if the italics actually are too much at once. (Honestly, I just hope you guys will enjoy this. I'm really pleased with myself because I used to have extreme difficulty writing pieces of decent length.)

Since you guys are awesome as usual, I offer these 6700 words as a token of thanks.

7 - a different feeling

"_Marco," Whitebeard said, glancing at a tall blond man with horrible color coordination, "take care of your new brother until he settles in."_

_Ace bristled as the man sighed and looked at him, taking in his torn clothes and the bruises marring his skin, mouth set in resignation._

"_You give me the worst orders, yoi."_

_The old man laughed. "Because you're the best man for the job. This job in particular."_

_

* * *

_

It hadn't been what he'd hoped for, the moment of their reunion. The next Ace sees of that Smokey guy, he'll find some way of returning his painful interruption tenfold - seriously, if Ace was anyone else his face would've been scratched to hell - but for now he puts it out of his mind.

Luffy is here. Luffy is here, and looks almost exactly as she did three years ago, only older, taller, stronger. Luffy is sitting in an alley below him, head swiveling back and forth, lost like the idiot she'll always be.

Luffy is alone and Ace has _missed_ her.

He launches himself from the roof as Luffy glances upwards and shades her eyes, entire goddamn body lighting up at the sight of him. Ace has been missed too, it seems.

Giving her no time to think, he pins Luffy to the rough brick wall with hands and mouth, reveling in the way she shivers beneath his touch and how her lips part immediately to demand more. Ace slips his tongue inside to twist playfully with Luffy's; even her taste is familiar.

Luffy twines the fingers of one hand with his, her other snagging the cord of his hat to pull Ace nearer still, though with their every curve pressed together he can imagine only a single other way to be as close as Luffy wants. Ace groans at the thought, hikes her vest up at the side to get at the smooth, warm skin he's been craving.

Three years is far too long to go without this.

It's great, it's wonderful (how could it _not_ be?) but while the feel of Luffy at home in his arms is absolute heaven, there's the nagging problem of her chest. Her disturbingly _flat_ chest.

"Luffy," Ace says, voice raw with a reluctance Luffy clearly shares as she chases his lips across the tiny distance he created. He can't resist letting her take another kiss before the desire to see if Marco guessed right surges back full force. "_Luffy_, hold on a moment."

Ace draws further away, ignoring the sharp whine of protest Luffy gives; it dies when he beings unbuttoning her vest, replaced with an eager smile. Her hands, now on Ace's shoulders, dig in with blunt nails to urge him on. And while Ace sincerely hadn't intended to have Luffy in an alleyway where anyone could see, it's becoming harder to hold on to all the reasons why that's a very, very bad idea.

When the vest falls open to reveal tightly bound bandages, Ace breathes an internal sigh of relief. Marco had guessed right after all. Still, Ace is curious to know who gave Luffy the idea to bind her chest - it's certainly not the sort of thing she'd come up with on her own.

He's about to ask when Luffy starts pulling at the bandages, unraveling them slowly as she searches for the end. Ace hastily grabs her wrists because it really is a _very bad idea_ to get naked in broad daylight, doubly so when there are Marines actively hunting for them. "You have a ship, right? A ship with comfortable horizontal surfaces behind closed doors, so just wait a -"

"Don't wanna," Luffy says, and tugs the bandages down with an air of finality. He wants to be mad that she's ignoring the advice of her dear older brother, but Luffy wraps her legs around his waist and grinds, urging his head down to rest against breasts Ace has been dreaming of - Marco's brilliant, but this is an area in which the man is naturally lacking - and Ace is gone. Perhaps he'll regret it later. For now his control is so much sand in the wind.

Later, after helping Luffy back into her bindings and brushing the dirt off his carelessly discarded shorts, Ace tells her about Whitebeard and why he's here in the first place, asks her to join their crew even though he knows what her answer will be. He only tries because he can't shake the thought of introducing her to Marco, how warm and crowded his bed would be that night…heh. It's something to look forward to when Luffy reaches the New World.

"Anyway," Ace says as they emerge from the alley, "why are you binding your chest?"

Luffy scratches at a fading bruise Ace had sucked onto the arch of her shoulder. "Huh? Oh, this is because my boobs were getting in the way when I fought. They got bigger after you left."

Ace had noticed.

"I kept complaining and eventually Dadan suggested I try this. The bandages are way more comfy than bras." Luffy scrunches up her nose as if she's talking about the bane of her existence. She'd always hated the things. "But now I've got another reason, shishishi."

Grinning madly, Luffy tilts Ace's head to whisper against the shell of his ear; to his credit, Ace only cries a _little_ despite laughing so hard his knees hit the ground. He drags Luffy down to crouch beside him on the pitted cobblestones, tosses his arms around her neck and squeezes.

"Luffy Luffy Luffy," he chants, "you are insane, and I mean that with all the love in the world."

She kisses him on the cheek to say she understands, lips lingering over a vivid patch of freckles. "Usopp agrees that it's an awesome prank idea, though he doesn't think I'll be able to keep it a secret long enough. Chopper too."

"Anything can happen, but I'll be kinda sad to see it go to waste." Ace stands, steering Luffy towards the sea and where her ship may or may not be anchored. "Usopp and Chopper, huh? Tell me about your nakama."

As they walk, Luffy happily chatters away about her crew. Ace listens carefully as she talks about them, but Luffy describes each with equal affection until she mentions her swordsman, his massive scar, and how it tickled the pads of her fingers when she touched it.

"Zoro, he's the one with green hair?" Ace asks, trying to recall the brief glimpse of Luffy's crew he'd gotten before his fight with Smokey. Tall, broad, handsome in a rough sort of way…

"Yep."

"Any good in the sack?"

"Yea- waaaaaaait, how'd you know?"

"Brotherly intuition," Ace says, smug.

Luffy elbows him in the ribs, ducks beneath Ace's attempt at a headlock, and says, "Zoro is really really strong! He bleeds a lot and it gets lost all the time and Nami beats him up for it, but he's gonna be the best swordsman ever. Just wait and see, Ace."

"I take it he's after Mihawk."

"Mihawk?" Luffy frowns for a second, then lifts a finger in revelation. "Oh yeah, the gold-eyed old man. He gave Zoro his scar, but said nice things about us too, so I guess he's not a bad guy."

"You met Mihawk? No. No, of course you met Mihawk." Ace sighs and ruffles her hair. Luffy drew the most absurd attention, like a danger magnet - Shanks and Mihawk, princesses and god knew who else.

_Bet Pops will love her_, he thinks.

"What about you? I doubt your bed is empty, Ace."

Ace grins wide and wicked. "His name is Marco."

"A guy? So _that's_ why you were touching my boobs a lot." Luffy laughs, and Ace makes sure to catch her head this time, straw hat knocked askew as he knuckles her skull until she begs for mercy.

* * *

_Ace remained rooted in the doorway, taking in the sparsely furnished room. The oddest thing about it was the large wooden platform protruding from the far right wall, piled high with blankets and pillows, yet there was also a bed._

_One bed._

"_We'll be sharing, yoi," Marco said, striding towards a dresser and pulling out a box of matches to light the slender blue candle. Without conscious thought, Ace flicked his fingers so the candle burst into flame before Marco even had the chance to get a match out. He raised an eyebrow. "Useful."_

_Ace flushed, not having meant to be in the least bit helpful to anyone who sailed under Whitebeard. "What the hell do you mean, sharing? I hope you don't mean we'll both be sleeping in that bed."_

"_I could just give you the floor, brat." Marco turned to give Ace a once over, face shadowed by wavering candlelight. "But you look like you're about to keel over so I'd say you need a good night of rest. Which you certainly won't get on the floor, yoi."_

"_What about that?" Ace pointed to the platform. "What's it for?"_

"_Sleeping."_

"_Then why don't you just go up there?" Marco ignored him, shrugging off his shirt and folding it over the desk chair. When he began tugging loose the blue sash around his waist, Ace had finally had enough, stomping inside and letting the door swing shut. "Hey, answer me!"_

_Marco didn't stop removing his clothes, but said, "It's easier to keep an eye on you if we're sharing, yoi. Though if you have any common sense in that spoiled head of yours, you'll give up on trying to kill Pops."_

"_I won't stop." Ace said, reluctantly beginning to peel away his own sweaty, ragged clothing. He was in desperate need of a bath, but damn if he would ask where he could take one. Either he'd figure it out on his own or he'd go without._

_Marco took him by the shoulders, hands gentle but unyielding as he steered Ace towards the bed, pulling back the sheets and shoving him down so he bounced on the firm mattress. He following Ace in, crowding him against the wall so there was almost no space between their bodies. Ace scowled and tried to push at the other man's chest, but Marco couldn't be budged, even when he pushed at him with all his - admittedly flagging - strength. He couldn't remember ever being so exhausted in all his life._

"_Not used to sleeping with someone else, yoi?" Marco asked, watching Ace struggle with an expression of distant amusement that grated on the younger pirate's nerves. Fine, if that's how they were gonna play, so be it. Ace hadn't been planning on using his ability, but he grit his teeth and forced his tired body to produce fire enough to threaten, expecting Marco to at least shift away and give him a little room to breathe._

_But he almost choked on his own tongue as red flames were met with blue, Marco taking Ace's burning hand and not smothering his fire but letting their flames twist and mingle together. No matter how hotly Ace raged, he could not extinguish the dancing cerulean._

"_What are you? What Devil Fruit do you have?" There couldn't possibly be another Mera Mera user, so where did Marco's flame come from?_

"_I'll tell you in the morning if you stop squirming and sleep like a good brat, yoi," Marco smirked. Ace allowed his fire to die out, but there was no way Ace would do what he asked. He snarled and managed to get an elbow in Marco's ribs._

"_At least move over a little! I barely have space to breathe." To his surprise, Marco seemed to relent, scotching closer to the other side of the bed. What Ace wasn't expecting was an arm thrown around his waist as soon as he shifted onto his back._

"_H-hey!" Ace protested, but there was no real anger behind. He was realizing just how soft the mattress felt beneath his aching body. Unconsciousness tugged at him._

"_Just making sure you stay where you are. Pops will still be here in the morning if you feel the need to go after him again, yoi. One night of peace won't make any difference."_

_Ace frowned. He really didn't want to lie under a pirate who could just as easily kill him in his sleep if he so choose. Before he could try protesting again, that godforsaken narcolepsy crashed over him. Ace ended up passing out, more warm and comfortable beneath Marco's secure weight than he'd ever admit, even to himself._

_

* * *

_  
"What's he look like?"

"Hm?"

"Marco. I wanna know what he looks like!"

"I've got just the thing," Ace says, rummaging through his pockets as he tries to remember which one he'd - ah, there they are.

The pieces of paper are folded one inside the other, and the innermost piece slips between Ace's fingers as he digs them from his shorts. It catches on the hot desert breeze and goes skittering across the pavement. Luffy snatches it up before Ace even has the chance to ask her to.

She opens it, snickering at the familiar picture staring back at her. "You carry my wanted poster around?"

"Normally it's on my wall," Ace says, not in the least bit embarrassed. Everyone he knows and quite a few strangers have seen that poster, forced to sit and listen as he proudly rambled on and on and on about his younger brother and the obscene amount of trouble she'd caused. Marco probably knew more about Luffy than she did by now.

While Luffy grins at her picture, attempting to duplicate the expression she'd been wearing at the time, Ace unfolds the second poster. _Marco the Phoenix_ is emblazoned across the page.

Luffy trots over when he holds it out for her inspection, but only blinks at it before raising her black eyes to Ace's own; her brow furrows as she considers him intently, leaning in close so they're nearly nose to nose. Ace is used to Luffy's peculiar brand of scrutiny, yet can't for the life of him guess why he's the focus of it this time.

"You carry his too?"

"Well, yeah-"

"Do you have any others?"

"Of course not, why would I-?" Ace is interrupted by an achingly sweet kiss. When Luffy pulls away, her lips are quirked in a lopsided smile that seems to say _I see_, good-natured and oddly knowing.

"Lu?"

"You're so cute, Ace," she says, and takes Marco's poster from his shock slackened fingers for a better look.

* * *

"_Why don't you just give it up, yoi?" Marco asked a week later, dabbing at Ace's dripping cheek while the other pirate absolutely refused to hold still or stop grumbling and growling threats under his breath._

"_I have my reasons," Ace snarled, twisting his face from between Marco's steadying fingers. "Stop it already. I don't want your help!"_

"_Too bad," Marco said, calm and unflappable as always. "You're going to get it, yoi."_

_Ace made one last half-hearted effort to escape from the gentle attention to his wounds, the result of yet another attempt to end the old man. His clothes were soaked with water from being thrown overboard. Sea salt streamed from his hair and stung his eyes._

_Every time he was saved by one of the men on this ship, he hated himself that little bit more._

"_Why don't you bastards just lock me up? Wouldn't it be easier for you?"_

"_And ruin our favorite entertainment?" Marco smirked. "I don't think so, yoi."_

_Ace hissed as Marco swabbed a cotton ball full of alcohol across a deeper cut. "Aren't you at all worried that I might actually succeed? That somehow I may end that old man's life?"_

"_No," Marco said simply. "Pops is too strong to be killed by anyone. Especially someone who doesn't really want to hurt him in the first place, yoi."_

"_What the hell are you talking about?" Ace asked as Marco smoothed a plaster across the last of his injuries. "Of course I want him dead."_

"_Really?" Marco lifted his lips in a half smile that was becoming disturbingly familiar to Ace, for all that he hated it, and ruffled a hand through Ace's wet hair. "To Pops, to everyone on this ship, it seems more like a beloved son going through a rebellious phase, yoi."_

"_I am _not_ his son! I'm not any man's son!" Ace snarled, and finally managed to shove himself clear of Marco's grip. The first division commander continued to watch his tantrum with amusement._

"_Calm down, brat. I was just telling you what Pops thinks of all this."_

"_Well, I don't give a fuck. That old man can think what he wants, but one day I'm going to surpass him. I'll do what my pathetic excuse for a father couldn't!" Ace froze, the fingers of one hand digging into his lips as if to seal away a spew of words that desperately yearned to be set free. _

That_ piqued Marco's curiosity, but he wasn't going to ask. He wouldn't get a straight answer out of the mistrustful pirate anyway._

_At least, not yet._

"_I don't know what sort of past you have, or whose blood flows through your veins," Marco said, choosing his words with the utmost care. The way heat spread across Ace's face told him he'd hit the nail on the head. "We all joined Whitebeard's crew looking for a fresh start, a place where no one would judge us for whatever sins we committed…both real and imagined. We serve Pops because he gave us a home, yoi."_

_Ace seemed to curl into himself, eyes squeezed tightly shut and body suddenly pliant beneath his touch, and when Marco wiped at a stray trail of blood with the pad of his thumb Ace did not pull away._

_

* * *

_  
Dinner is exceptionally lively that evening. Ace meshes with the others so extraordinarily well it's as if he's been sailing with them from the beginning; whether that's because he's Luffy's brother or due to his own innate and bountiful charms, Zoro can't decide.

Everyone is perfectly at ease around their temporary nakama. Except Zoro.

The first time Luffy ever mentioned Ace was also the first they were together physically, not long after they'd met. Just one thing - _"Playing a game! Ace called it 'seduction'."_

Zoro didn't think it unreasonable to have taken that to mean 'Ace' was the person who taught Luffy how to kiss and touch and…everything else. But when she'd introduced Ace as her brother, the swordsman had assumed his guess was wrong.

Then Luffy returned to the ship and Zoro could tell at once that she'd had sex - that unique tousle, the kind he saw only after he'd been running his fingers through Luffy's hair, and a mark on her throat he hadn't left. Ace showing up not long after sealed the deal.

That they're siblings barely blips on his radar. There's a story behind it, he's sure. No, it's the fact that Ace is Luffy's _older brother_ and is therefore accompanied by the nature of all older brothers: to beat the crap out of anything and everything that tries to lay hands on their little sisters.

Ace will occasionally catch Zoro's eye and grin the grin of a boy sharing his best kept secret.

Zoro wonders if he'd be safer swimming.

* * *

_The twinge in his stomach was growing nearly unbearable, but Ace would wait until late, when everyone but the drunkest of the crew were sleeping or otherwise occupied in their rooms to steal anything to eat. He sure as fuck wasn't going to _ask_ for food._

_The stars were out in full force tonight. Ace tried to distract himself from the hunger gnawing at his gut by counting them or playing connect the dots or searching for whatever pattern crossed his mind: meat; Luffy, huge smile firmly in place; the beautiful and brilliant extended wings of a bird soaring undisturbed through the sky, master of all…_

_Marco had told Ace his Devil Fruit was a Zoan, one that allowed him to turn into a _phoenix_ of all things. Yes, Ace knew about the legendary birds that burned across the world until they burst into flame and were reborn from their own ashes. He just couldn't believe Marco had that sort of power - the older pirate had refused to show him anything but those mysterious flames that raged while harming nothing, warm to the touch but not unpleasantly so, even for an ordinary human._

_Not at all like Ace's fire, which seared a path of destruction whenever he used it. Marco could heal. Ace could only harm._

_His stomach growled raucously, straight up _demanding_ to be fed, and soon. Ace pressed a hand to his abdomen and cursed under his breath and hoped to heaven and hell no one was around to pity him._

_But God hated him, utterly and without remorse - Ace felt a quiet displacement of air, and when he turned to look Marco stood not five feet away, arms crossed. He hadn't heard any footsteps._

_His stomach, useless chunk of digestive system that it was, decided now would be the perfect time to gurgle as nosily as possible._

_Marco said nothing, simply observed Ace's black eye and bleeding arm and swollen lip in silence. Ace let the so-called phoenix do as he wished - he'd been trapped on the Moby Dick for a month now, and though it stung his pride something fierce, Ace had to admit there was nothing he could do if Marco wanted him for something. The way he'd been living had never allowed him to fully recover from his fights with Jimbei and the old man - he ate only what he could steal, spent all his energy attempting to end Whitebeard, slept only when his narcolepsy hit._

_Except the nights Marco pinned him to the bed and demanded, voice low and dangerous, that he get some rest; those times, Ace slept the day away._

"_Come here, yoi," Marco said, breaking the stillness. Ace wasn't sure how long they'd simply watched each other as exhalant sounds of revelry rose and fell in the background, but it was long enough that he stumbled to Marco's side, not bothering to protest when he slung an arm around Ace's shoulders for support. Anyone else and Ace would have pulled away. But Marco was…Marco was…_

_Ace refused to think about what Marco was._

_Marco led him away from the deck and inside, where the roars of laughter rang out unhindered. Ace resisted for a moment - he had no desire to join in the festivities - but Marco squeezed lightly at his ribs and directed them instead through a door. As it swung shut all the shouts were abruptly muffled to the point that Ace could tune them out if he chose._

_They were in the kitchen. A few chefs still milled about, occasionally adding spices or whatever to a bubbling pot but mostly taking long pulls from their mugs of ale. One hard glare from Marco had them scattering like leaves in a storm._

"_I'm not hungry," Ace muttered as Marco began laying out a bowl and plates laden with bread and butter and jam. He tasted whatever was cooking in the pot and apparently found it to his liking because he ladled a considerable serving into one of the bowls._

"_I am," Marco said, settling himself on a stool and reaching for a spoon. "But eating alone is no fun, yoi. Even if you don't want anything, would it be too much trouble for you to keep me company?"_

"…_I guess not." Ace seated himself across from March, ignoring the delectable scent of the soup and how soft those bread rolls looked. Marco tore one in half and dipped it into the butter - honey butter, Ace could damn well smell that too - eyes closed as he chewed._

_The bowl was nearly empty when Marco said, "There's too much for me," and pushed the plate of bread towards Ace. "You know it's irresponsible to waste food on the sea, yoi. Help me finish this so I won't get scolded."_

_Ace just stared blankly at the pile of bread sitting in front of him until Marco said, "Please?"_

…_It was different if someone else asked _him_. Right?_

_So he took a hesitant bite, and then another and another and another until the plate was bare and Marco had refilled the bowl and offered that to him as well. It wasn't until Marco gently pressed a cool, damp cloth to his puffy eye that Ace realized his cheeks were wet._

"_Why am I crying?" he asked, too shocked to censor himself. He paused with a spoonful of broth halfway to his mouth, both dreading and hoping Marco would answer._

_Marco guided the spoon to Ace's mouth with his fingertips. "Only you can know that, yoi."_

_

* * *

_  
It's curious, how Luffy is in high spirits one second and quiet the next. Something had caught her attention, and Zoro watches with interest as Luffy reaches out to touch Ace's tattoo - specifically, the crossed out S.

Her eyes go sad and distant with recollection, the expression of someone lost in old memories. For Zoro, who's used to his captain living firmly in the moment, this is a first. Whoever or whatever the S reminded her of must have been very special indeed.

They know nothing of Luffy's past. Big brother Ace was a surprise. Zoro couldn't say where Luffy came from or why she'd become a pirate if his life depended on it. He knows her straw hat is some sort of promise between her and Red Hair Shanks, her dream is to be Pirate King…and that's it.

Then Zoro realizes he doesn't know anything about anyone but Nami and feels uncomfortable for getting curious in the first place. If it's important, Luffy will tell him. Them.

Zoro frowns at himself and the unusual direction in which his thoughts are wandering. Across the deck, Luffy bends down to brush a tender kiss across the S, smile returning as Ace cradles her in a painfully fond, familiar embrace. When Ace sees him looking, he meets Zoro's eyes over the top of Luffy's head, gaze open and unsteady. For a moment, he almost seems tired.

Luffy has first watch that night. She disappears into the crow's nest, Ace following shortly after.

* * *

_Ace came awake slowly, cozy, limbs weighted with the satiation of a good night's rest. Eyes half-lidded and blurred, brain groggy and sluggish in its attempts to fire up, he didn't at first notice that he was not alone in the bed. Marco sat on the edge, smoke curling from the cigarette dangling between his fingers. _

_This was unusual, a deviation from their normal routine - Marco slept beside him at night but left long before Ace woke in the mornings, sheets gone cold - and Ace could only stare dumbly at the first division commander and wonder why he was here now._

_Marco's gaze swiftly relocated from Ace to the window when he realized the younger pirate was awake._

"_What is it?" Ace asked softly, nothing but genuine interest behind the question. His fuzzy mind was still struggling to get itself going; he couldn't really work up the coherency necessary for indignation and anyway, he kinda liked Marco. A little bit. A really very tiny bit, unassuming understanding and ceaseless patience and easy smiles notwithstanding._

…_Oh, fuck it._

_Marco turned back to him, eyes coming to rest purposely on Ace's exposed bicep. Ace looked too, at the stretch of marked skin and the four letters inked there, only one of which held any meaning. "Drunk, yoi?"_

"_Completely sloshed," he said, and then it occurred to him that Marco was referring to the crossed out S, what would appear to be an alcohol fueled mistake to anyone but himself and a girl on the other side of the world. Ace lay there, surrounded by warmth and the acrid smell of tobacco and said, "But deliberate."_

_The phoenix raised an eyebrow but didn't ask and for that reason alone Ace open his mouth and let the words spill off his tongue like blood from a wound. "I had a brother. By oath and not blood, but my brother nonetheless, a boy I knew for years. I can't count the number of times he kept me from killing myself." Ace took a deep breath. "Sabo was…he came from a noble family, but that way of living was full of misery and loneliness and one day he reached his limit - even though Sabo was only ten years old he set sail as a pirate, searching for a better life."_

_Here, Ace struggled to continue. Marco snuffed out his cigarette, lay next to him, and in his silent show of support Ace found the strength. "He died in the attempt."_

_Marco was gentle as he traced the crossed out S with a thumb wreathed in blue flame. Heat radiated from the place he touched, a soothing fire that burned though Ace knew it could not hurt - his body prickled with the urge to answer that flame with his own, not out of fear or anger but something else entirely. Ace grit his teeth and hid his reddening cheeks in the pillows. _

"_Everyone on this ship is family. I consider all of them my brothers, yoi," Marco said. "No one can replace the brother you lost, but what Pops offers is a chance to make new ones."_

"_Brothers are fine and dandy. It's a father I don't want." Ace huffed and rolled to face the wall, determined to go back to sleep and pretend this conversation never happened. It had nothing to do with how close Marco was, how dangerous and immediate it felt. Nothing at all._

_

* * *

_  
They're curled up in the crow's nest, cocooned in a nest of blankets to ward off the cold desert night, and Ace is talking about Marco again. Marco's eternally lazy expression, Marco's gentle healing flames, Marco's calming voice and the unfairly sweet quirk with which he ends his sentences. Marco this. Marco that. Marco Marco Marco.

Maybe it's because Ace is so used to talking _about _Luffy - now that he's talking _to_ her he can only think of boasting about his own nakama. But that just isn't true, Ace has to admit. Now he has the chance, his mind is full of nothing but the man who's been his near constant companion for almost two years.

Luffy patiently listens to it all, though that may be because she's more than half asleep, eyes occasionally drifting shut and head resting heavily against his chest. For now her eyes are focused on him, once again gleaming with that oddly knowing spark. When Ace stops speaking to frown at her, Luffy simply smiles back. Suspicion nags him; Ace won't let her change the subject this time. He wants to _know_, damn it.

It's not as if what he's doing is strange. Luffy herself had gone off on many a tangent about her crew while bringing Ace up to speed on her adventures: Nami's obsession with money and all the trouble it gets her in, Usopp's harmless lies, Sanji's inability to resist a flash of cleavage, even her's. The immense love Vivi holds for her people. How Chopper still watches their Jolly Roger wave in the wind, as if the reindeer can't quite believe he's really a pirate. Zoro, who naps in the sun and lets Luffy snuggle inside his haramaki without complaint.

"Luffy, what the hell are you grinning about?"

"Ace is cute."

"You said that earlier! Look, if you're insisting on being sneaky…" Ace squeezes Luffy's hip to let her know his patience only extends so far. If she doesn't fess up soon, he _will_ resort to tickling.

"Marco."

"What _about_ Marco?"

"You love him," Luffy states.

Ace blinks and says, "I love _you,_" but it's not a denial. Yes, he loves Marco. He loves all his brothers, his father…

And he knows that isn't the type of love Luffy meant. She might as well have said _in _love. That Ace was _in_ _love_ with Marco.

The words feel natural and right as he turns them over and over again in his mind. Marco, who he can't stop talking about. Marco, whose wanted poster he carries wrapped up in Luffy's own. Marco who shares his bed. Marco, the reason Ace opened his heart to a new family and a new father.

Marco, responsible for the vast happiness Ace has gained. Marco Marco Marco.

How had he not noticed?

"I know you do," Luffy says, and Ace startles, having forgotten he'd said anything. "But the way you love Marco is…different. He gives you different things than I do. He gives you a different feeling. And that's okay! Right, Zoro?" Luffy turns a conspiratorial grin on the swordsman, who's upper body had popped through the hatch. He'd come to take the next watch.

"Hn?" Luffy kisses him, and Zoro permits it for a few seconds before elbowing her out of the way. "Oi, let me up. I'm freezing my balls off dangling here."

She moves back to make room. Zoro hauls himself up, and there's a hilarious moment when his eyes widen as he realizes Ace has just seen he and Luffy kiss. Even more hilarious is the wariness in his expression, like he expects Ace to attack him…oh.

Ace watches in amusement as Luffy climbs into Zoro's lap and the swordsman tenses in response, cautiously settling his hands on Luffy's arms but not daring anything more. Luffy, having none of that, squirms and drags those hands down to curve around her waist.

"Is Zoro here different for you, Luffy?" Ace will ease the poor guy's worries, but first he wants to know for sure.

"Uh-huh," she says, pulling at the blanket still draped across Ace's shoulders. He obligingly shifts closer, allowing Luffy to tuck it around Zoro as well. Ace leans against the swordsman's side. It's pretty cozy with the three of them, and he remembers a winter ten years past when he and Luffy had shared a blanket with another, a boy with blond hair instead of green.

As the minutes pass, Zoro gradually relaxes into their warmth. Ace yawns and takes Luffy's hand beneath the blanket. This is as good a place to sleep as any. Later, he'll teach Zoro all about proper Luffy-care.

* * *

_When reports of a string of islands came in and plans were made for shore leave, Ace wasn't sure what to do with himself. This was the first time the Whitebeard flagship had docked since he'd been taken aboard. He could run. He _should_ run. _

_Even if for some mad reason he decided not to get the hell away (which he would, far far _far_ away, though the other side of the whole damned world wouldn't feel far enough) what exactly was he expected to do? Stay on the ship like the prisoner Thatch insisted he wasn't? Maybe they'd put him on watch duty or something equally ridiculous just to keep him busy. Well, Ace wasn't having any of it. First chance he got, he'd slip into the crowd, never to darken Whitebeard's doorstep again. Hopefully._

_He was sitting on Marco's bed, craftily planning a master escape that involved less stealth than it probably should, when the phoenix leaned through the open doorway and said, "Oi, let's go."_

_Ace frowned, suspicious. "Go where?"_

"_To town, yoi." Marco rolled his eyes, grabbed Ace by the wrist and hauled him from the room. "There's somewhere I want to take you."_

"_You're interrupting my escape planning," Ace complained, ignoring Marco's unimpressed snort and how feebly he resisted as they emerged on deck. It was bustling with activity, eager pirates dashing every which way in an effort to finish their duties that much more quickly. "Who says I won't run?"_

_Marco stopped then, laid a hand on Ace's chest and bent down to whisper against his ear, in full view of everyone, "You can't get away from me, brat. Not even if you wanted to."_

_Goosebumps on his arms and neck, cheeks growing hotter by the second, Ace breathed deep and had himself a moment. God, did Marco realize what he was doing to Ace's poor body? For a moment, he wondered; then Marco slung an arm around Ace's shoulders and steered him down the dock, lazy half-smile back on his face, and Ace let it go. Marco loved picking on him, after all._

"_I bet your fire isn't stronger than mine," Ace said, crossing his fingers that the older man hadn't noticed him reacting. "It's not even hot."_

"_Perhaps not. But healing isn't all I can do, yoi."_

"_Right. Your supposed birdie form, which you still haven't shown me. I don't believe you."_

"_Patience," Marco said, patting Ace briefly on the head simply because it drove him crazy. He was rewarded with a petulant glare. "You'll see soon enough."_

"_What does that mean?" Ace asked. Marco refused to answer, but then they entered the town proper. It caught his interest, so Ace would forgive him just this once._

_Less than the town itself, it was what the villagers were wearing that Ace found so fascinating. Some were in plain clothes, nothing you wouldn't see anywhere else, but the vast majority were decked out in brightly colored kimonos - the patterns were varied and lovely; koi and dragons and blossoming flowers, sharks and lily pads and swirling stitches of blues, red, white - and Ace stared openly as Marco continued to guide him through. They passed a stand from which the mouth-watering scent of takoyaki emanated, but Marco wouldn't stop, even when Ace dug his heels in for real this time and his stomach grumbled loudly._

"_I'm hungry, damn it," Ace whined. "Can't we eat before you drag me wherever it is we're going?"_

"_You'll get food there, and it's not too much farther. Just hold your tongue for five minutes, yoi. Unless that's impossible for a brat like yourself," Marco smirked._

"_I'm not a goddamn brat!" Ace growled, and maintained a pretentious silence as they walked, eventually leaving the small village behind them, just to prove he could._

_Eventually they found themselves on a path surrounded by trees, paved with smooth, in-set stones of differing sizes and shapes. Ace trusted Marco enough that he didn't think even for a second that the first commander was leading him somewhere secluded to do away with him; his mind helpfully supplied images of what else they could do away from prying eyes, and Ace pinched viciously at the skin of hip to banish them. The chances of Marco doing those sorts of (naked) things to him were even less likely than being strangled in the middle of a forest._

_Ace could accept his attraction to the older man and didn't bother feeling guilty for it. He loved sex, just like Luffy - both had come to crave close physical intimacy, which wasn't entirely unexpected for a couple of teenage pirates - and while a large portion of his heart would always be exclusively Luffy's no matter what life served him, they'd seen no harm in sharing their bodies with others if the desire was there. Even Marco being male had only earned a short, mild freak out._

_No, what worried Ace had nothing to do with his body and everything to do with the part of his heart not tattooed with Luffy's name. The part that had, in a magnificent display of subtlety that Ace hadn't known he was capable of, become attached. Emotionally. To Marco, to the godforsaken Whitebeard Pirates…it was the part that ached when Marco smiled at him, as he became aware of all the reasons Whitebeard deserved the nickname 'Pops'._

_It was the part - that treacherous part - which whispered _maybe you should stay _as Ace laid awake at night, Marco breathing softly at his side._

_The more he wanted to stay, the greater his determination to escape…_

…_was what he'd like to say. Ace never really had been one for drawn out denial._

_Except _staying_ meant _having a father_._

_And he just…he _couldn't_…_

_Could he?_

_

* * *

_  
A/N - Poor Zoro. He doesn't know what to think of Ace and then ends up as a pillow for both the D siblings.

Next part will see more Ace-Zoro interaction and the continuation of the Marco/Ace flashbacks. Yes, sorry, it isn't over yet, but this is me begging my muse's forgiveness for all the het. I've almost forgotten what it's like to write pure slash and regular male Luffy and that's terrible. How my first longfic turned out to be het when I've never written anything but slash my entire life I simply don't understand.

Eh, enough complaining. I hope Ace was entertaining. God, he was such a stubborn little punk before joining Whitebeard's crew. Watching Ace struggle with himself is just so… :3

Until next time, brats.

Next chapter: More flashbacks - An encounter with Whitebeard and Thatch settles a decision Ace has been struggling with, and Marco finally shows Ace his phoenix form. Zoro and Ace get to know each other while Luffy takes it upon herself to encourage tent-sharing. On the horizon, a storm is brewing...


	10. trio

Pairings (this chapter): Zoro/Luffy/Ace, Marco/Ace

Rating: PG-16

**Warning**: Slash.

Sorry about the change in content - there was no other way for me to finish by today. I'll save the violence and plot for next time.

It's Sabo's birthday, so this chapter is dedicated to him even though that makes no sense. Mah, whatever. I'll spend today reading all the Sabo fic I can find…which probably isn't much.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy this.

8 - trio

_Half an hour later, the trees began to thin. They emerged into a clearing on what Ace assumed was the other side of the island - he hadn't been paying much attention to their arrival, but his initial impression of the place was that it was one of the smaller New World islands. Ace promptly stopped wondering about sizes and pretty much everything else too when they climbed over a small rise and a quaint wooden building came into view._

_Ace felt the stirrings of a vague memory, one stretching all the way back to East Blue and a time when he was new to the deep waters; a building similar in design, set on the outskirts of what he could only describe as a tourist dependent town. He'd spent three days there without being aware of passing time, the warmth and smells and food luring him into a state of constant half-sleep - he'd left relaxed, truly relaxed, for the first time since telling Luffy goodbye._

"_Please _please_ tell me that's what I think it is."_

_Marco smirked, a satisfied quirk of lips and a slight narrowing of the eyes. "That's exactly what you think it is."_

_Ace hardly cared what Marco made of him then, tearing towards the hot springs with a loud whoop and his arms swinging wildly in childish abandon. He thundered up polished stone steps and through the sliding door, badly starting two women chatting behind the front desk with his sudden appearance. They stared at Ace, one girl's hands fluttering about her face in shock, until Marco stepped in behind him, entrance downright regal in comparison._

"_Oh," the second, aging woman sighed in relief, "Marco-chan. Welcome back."_

_Ace glanced between Marco and the woman - the owner, if her fine silk kimono was anything to go by - with curiosity. The phoenix must have visited often to be greeted in such a way, considering he was a pirate from the world's most infamous crew._

"_It's been too long, Kimiko-san," Marco said, holding out a hand as she approached. Kimiko took it in both of her own and squeezed, a gesture so familiar Ace couldn't help but wonder _exactly_ how long Marco's been coming here…and whether or not it was as Whitebeard's first division commander. "And I apologize if this brat frightened you, yoi. He's easily excited."_

"_Don't worry yourself about that." With laugh lines carved deep by age and the gentlest eyes he's ever seen, Kimiko felt like an old friend's grandmother; when she smiled at him Ace could only grin back, sheepish and contrite._

"_I must apologize, ma'am." He bowed so low his hat nearly slipped off. "Sorry for the intrusion."_

_Kimiko clapped her hands in glee and cooed something complimentary about his manners while the younger woman, still hovering behind the desk, peered at Ace with new interest. Yet it was Marco's expression Ace delighted in - the man's brow was lightly furrowed in confusion, but Ace knew that beneath his nearly impassive features Marco was utterly baffled. There'd been neither occasion nor desire to show off the politeness Makino had drilled into him onboard the Moby Dick._

_Honestly, Ace just wanted Marco to stop thinking of him as a brat. If his reasons had less to do with putting an end to Marco's teasing and more with making Marco possibly consider engaging in acts one would most certainly not try with a kid, well. He couldn't be blamed._

"_Let me show you to your room." Kimiko led them down a curving hall lined with painted walls. A particular section of panels was swallowed by a massive bird of blue and gold flame, and Ace paused to trace a finger around the shape of it, gaze drawn to Marco as the man spoke quietly to Kimiko. They stopped at the next door down. With a last nod to the owner, Marco toed off his sandals and disappeared inside._

_When Kimiko shuffled past, Ace asked, "Is this newer than the other murals? They're faded, but this one is still so vivid."_

"_Most of the artwork hasn't been touched since this place was built over a century ago," Kimiko said, gesturing at the opposite wall, adorned with a prancing fox. "But the phoenix was added only ten years back, when Marco-chan protected the hot springs from invading pirates."_

"_You saw it? You saw Marco's phoenix form?" Ace turned to the painting, absolutely fascinated. "This is what he looks like?"_

_The old lady cocked her head. "It is indeed. You haven't seen him for yourself?"_

"_Not yet," Ace muttered._

"_Then I'm sure you will someday soon, because Marco-chan must be very fond of you." Kimiko patted his shoulder comfortingly. "He's never brought anyone here before."_

_Ace perked up at that. "Really?"_

"_Really," Kimiko agreed. A shrill voice called for her, and she gifted Ace with another smile as she left. "Take care, Ace-chan."_

"_You too, obaa-chan."_

_The door Marco had used earlier was cracked open, and Ace stuck his head through the gap to take a look around. In the tatami-floored room were two folded futons, a chabudai, and, most importantly, a back door from which Ace could hear the sound of running water._

_Since there was no Marco in sight, Ace left his own shoes at the door stepped out onto a porch, the smooth wooden boards nearly frictionless under his feet. Marco's clothes lay neatly folded on the floor, and the man himself slumped loose-limbed against the rocky side of the hot springs. Gently steaming water lapped at his chest. Wet tendrils of blond hair curled around his ears. With Marco's eyes closed, Ace took his time appreciating the view - it wasn't right that, while the older pirate's shirt hid nothing, seeing him without it still felt like a rare pleasure._

_Having looked his fill, Ace stripped off his clothes and scrubbed clean beneath the small spout set off to the side, a sign requesting customers kindly keep their dirt out of the springs nailed next to it. He turned to find Marco watching him, eyebrows raised._

"_Having fun, yoi?"_

"_Not yet," Ace said, flicking the last few soap bubbles from his arm. He entertained the idea of cannon-balling into the spring but thought better of it when Marco glared as if he could read Ace's mind._

"_Don't you dare," he growled, prowling toward Ace, seemingly intent on wrestling him to the ground to halt any mischief in its tracks. While dragging Marco into a naked tussle could be potentially hilarious, Ace decided it was a bit too risky, considering, and put his hands up in surrender, sliding into the spring without so much as a splash._

_Heat caressed his skin, and Ace groaned in approval as four months of tension melted away all at once, leaving him pleasantly fuzzy. In a haze of relaxation, the filter between his brain and mouth crumbled to pieces as it had that nicotine stained morning weeks ago, and he asked, "How long have you been with the old man?"_

_Marco hummed in surprised, but seemed pleased to have Ace asking questions about Whitebeard with no ill intention. "Since before you were born, yoi."_

"…_How old _are_ you?"_

"_Brat." Marco smirked, making it clear he wouldn't be answering that particular question anytime soon._

_Ace stuck his out his tongue in response. "Geezer."_

_Marco chuckled, and a companionable silence settled over them. Ace gathered the strength to flop down beside his friend - there was no point in pretending Marco was anything else, Thatch a close second - and found a comfortable groove in the rocks shaped as if made to cradle his back. Lethargy licked at the edges of his consciousness. With Marco warm at his side, their bodies pressed together shoulder to foot, Ace welcomed his narcolepsy - for perhaps the first time - and let his head loll into the curve of Marco's throat._

_When he woke, Ace was sprawled across the rocks, a towel draped over his hips and his skin dry from the sun now sinking below the horizon. He admired the delicate hues of pink and orange shading the sky until his stomach gave a rather obnoxious rumble._

"_Finally awake?"_

_Marco sat on the porch, a crinkled newspaper spread open on his lap. He'd changed into a loose blue kimono, silhouettes of birds in flight painstakingly stitched across the expanse of cotton in gold thread . Ace had a gibbering moment where Marco's bare knee, peeking between thick folds of fabric, was the most amazing thing he'd ever seen. He swore then and there to thank Kimiko for what must have been her personal handiwork. It suited Marco far too well to be anything but._

"_I had to drag you out of the water or you'd have drowned, yoi." Marco held up a wad of black. "There's food on the table, and Kimiko-san asked me to pass this on to you."_

_Ace rose slowly - his limbs were still sluggish from the potent combo of hot water and a nap in the sun - and took the kimono as he passed into their room. At first glance he'd thought it was just a plain kimono Kimiko had dug out for him, but as he unfolded it a white pattern stood out against the black. And what a pattern it was._

_Though hardly strange for the kind old woman to assume he was part of Whitebeard's crew, Ace scowled on principle before pulling it on. Today had been good, really good. He wouldn't ruin it by fussing about something as petty as wearing Whitebeard's mark for one night._

_The food set out was hot and fragrant and exotic, traditional dishes of the island, he guessed. Delicious as it was, he scarfed it in a rush - managing, somehow, to stop from planting his face in a bowl of rice - to join Marco outside. Now that he was paying attention, Ace noticed Marco's kimono also bore the mark._

_The older pirate watched with heavy lidded eyes as Ace took a seat beside him. He was quite for long minute, and then his lips pulled back in a smugly satisfied grin._

"_Tea?" he asked._

_As the sky gradually darkened, Marco shared stories of his time with Whitebeard, the battles and drunken escapades and the warmth of gaining new brothers, new family._

"_- of course Pops wasn't happy to wake up with an unexpected beard. Thatch and Haruta were on bathroom duty for six months, yoi."_

_Ace howled, clutching spasmodically at Marco's sleeve with shaky fingers. "I can't believe they painted the old man's face! In _rainbow_."_

"_Quite the troublemakers, those two. I expect you'll be recruited for their next stunt."_

_Sides aching from an overdose of laughter, Ace collapsed onto his stomach and pillowed his head on his arms. He was growing sleepy again, the food in his stomach taking it's toll. But there was one thing Ace felt he _needed_ to ask._

_Before he got any more comfortable._

"_Is it nice, having a father? Are you happy?"_

"…_Brat."_

_He'd take that as a yes._

_

* * *

_  
Ace watches Zoro watching him with steadily increasing humor. It's clear that despite, or perhaps because of, the night they'd spent conked out together in the crow's nest, the swordsman is still wary of being attacked by 'big brother'.

He has to wonder what Zoro makes of it, of Ace as both brother and lover. Though he and Luffy are related by bonds rather than blood, he's certain Zoro has no idea; Ace and Luffy look enough alike to pass as blood-siblings, and Luffy isn't one to talk about her past without prompting.

None of the crew showed signs of having heard of him before, even in passing, and that's pretty much what Ace was expecting. He resisted speaking of his past by choice, but Luffy was simply all about the present moment. Anything not screaming madly in her face was set aside. Not forgotten, per say, but unimportant unless it actively involved in her current adventure.

Still, he's got to give Zoro props for not acting in the least bit put off by the thought of he and Luffy being intimate. Either the swordsman was a stern believer in the pirate lifestyle - do what you like and damn the consequences - or just that unflappable. From looking at him, Ace would take a wild guess and say both.

The campfire dances high and hot between them, maintained by judicious applications of Ace's ability. He sees the light reflected in Zoro's eyes as the man continues staring, unapologetic and unafraid of getting caught; he doesn't look away even when Ace makes it very clear he's staring back.

The guy has fucking huge balls. Ace likes him already.

"Nah nah, Zoro-chan," he says, patting the sand next to him, "Let's have a friendly chat, shall we? Come sit."

To Ace's delight, Zoro comes and sits without needing to be provoked. He tosses an arm around the swordsman's shoulders to pull him closer and whispers, "Will it put you at ease if I get the threats of bodily harm out of the way?"

Zoro frowns, trying to decide if he's being made fun of, but nods nevertheless.

"Roronoa Zoro, if you hurt Luffy I hereby swear to lovingly break every bone in your body, roast you alive, and then leave whatever's left of you in the hands of our old man." In the dim light of the fire, Zoro has gone sickly pale. "Well, just promise me you won't die on her and we'll be square. Why don't we put this behind us and be friends? We've already got something in common." Ace gestures at Luffy, who's engaged in a game of tag with Usopp and Chopper.

After a brief hesitation, Zoro nods a second time. He turns to watch Luffy scurrying through shadows and says, "Growing up with her must've been hell."

"Oh, mister, you have _no_ idea. Be thankful you weren't there when she hit puberty! So much blood in awkward places…"

Zoro's face goes the approximate color of a ghost, but he surprises Ace by darting a quick, furtive glance around camp and asking, voice low and maybe a little frightened, "Are those the days Luffy gets pissed easily and refuses to eat anything but salad? If there aren't any enemies around to beat up, she takes it out on me."

"Painful, isn't it? And just think, you have this to look forward to every month for the rest of your life!" Ace is terrified of Luffy's abrupt 180 in personality during _that_ and is quite pleased to shove it on someone else. Luckily, Zoro's tough enough to handle it.

Zoro groans, rubs at his eyes in frustration but doesn't deny it and Ace feels the worry he's carried with him since leaving Dawn Island loosen its hold on his heart - Luffy can be impossible to deal with, and knowing there's someone willing to try anyway is more than Ace hoped for.

"It's good Luffy met you," he says. And yeah, neither of them need his approval - if Luffy wants to fall in love, there's fuck all he can do to stop her - but Zoro smiles, a tiny twitch of the mouth; holds out his hand, and Ace knows the swordsman is glad to have it. He takes the proffered hand and shakes it firmly.

A sharp clap interrupts the moment. Nami stands in the pool of flickering light thrown by the fire, glaring at them all to get their attention. "We need to pitch our tents."

Luffy whoops and dives for the packs. Zoro and Ace share a grimace at the disaster Luffy interacting with canvas will become and get up to help.

Later, while Zoro mocks Ace for tripping over a pole in the semi-dark, they miss Luffy's quiet laugh of content.

* * *

_Ace slouched his way across the deck of the Moby Dick, rubbing his itching eyes and muttering unpleasantly under his breath. Marco'd left on business yesterday afternoon and failed to return before nightfall, leaving Ace alone in his bed and uncharacteristically sleepless. While Ace hadn't spent every night with Marco - those first two months he'd avoided sleeping with the man as often as he could - it'd become something of a routine, and he'd never used the bed unless Marco was there too. After all, the bed truly belonged to his friend. _

_He wondered what Marco would think of Ace drooling on his pillow and twisting his sheets into knots while he was away. Ace was a fidgety sleeper when in bed by himself but slept like the dead when sharing with another person, a habit he'd acquired from Luffy and continued with Marco._

_Last night Ace crawled beneath the covers, hoping Marco would come home during the night and be there when he woke. Marco hadn't shown. Ace slept in fits and starts, restless without the comforting weight of Marco's arm thrown casually around his waist to pin him in place, body refusing to settle into deeper unconsciousness and instead encouraging him to wait. Wait for Marco, who'd gone god knew where and forgotten to tell Ace when he'd return._

_So now he had no choice but to skulk across the ship, searching for a place he could nap in peace and coming up short. There was only one spot he'd not tried yet. _

_He approached the area swallowed by Whitebeard's enormous chair and collapsed beside it. The old man wasn't here, happily sleeping like Ace should be. It was obscenely early, the sun only a slowly spreading splash of orange on the horizon, and Ace sighed, tucking his arms under his cheek and shutting his eyes in defiance of the agitation preventing him from his sorely deserved snooze._

_And somehow, for some reason, the long shadow cast by Whitebeard's seat provided the consolation he'd been seeking. Not two minutes later, the steady sound of his snores were there to greet the rising sun._

_He woke to the sensation of being smothered by something large and soft and warm - all in all, not the most reassuring feeling to find oneself experiencing while still dizzy from being pulled abruptly to awareness. Dim light filtered through whatever it was covering his body. A brief session of curious prodding revealed it to be heavy material, and Ace wormed his way across the floor, lazily attempting to locate the edge of the massive blanket he'd been covered with._

_Upon finding it, Ace warily inched his head outside, blinking as bright light assaulted his eyes. The sun hung high in the sky. Rumbling laughter from above had Ace craning his neck, only to see Whitebeard smiling at him in delight._

…_Right, he'd managed to fall asleep next to the captain's chair. Ace grinned back sheepishly. On closer inspection, he realized what he'd been using as a makeshift blanket. The flowing white material was a jacket decorated with golden tassels; the sheer size meant it was Whitebeard's captain coat Ace had draped over his shoulders. The realization only made Ace tug it more tightly around his body as he shifted onto his knees, a spreading sense of easy content stopping him from tossing the coat away._

"_How long have I been out?" he asked. His earlier fatigue was a distant memory. Energy hummed through him, and Ace wished there was an enemy to fight. I'd been far too long since his battles consisted of anything but Whitebeard soundly kicking his ass._

"_No clue. It's been six hours since was found you , but we've got no idea how long you were out here before that." Thatch crouched next to Ace, laying one friendly hand on his shoulder and squeezing, obviously entertained by Ace passing out wherever he pleased. "Pops was kind enough to sacrifice his coat so you wouldn't burn."_

"_But I can't-" burn, he almost said, but Whitebeard knew that. This wasn't about the sunburn his Devil Fruit naturally kept him from suffering. This was a father showing affection for his child._

_Whitebeard reached out to carefully muse Ace's hair. Ace marveled at it, how a single finger of the old man's was larger than his head, and giggled at the gentle, ticklish pressure. "We haven't had much of a chance to talk, son. Tell me how you're getting along."_

_Ace drew a wavering breath. That word - _son_ - still caused a fierce ache in a part of his heart Ace walled off over a decade ago, but it was time to admit that wall had been reduced to rubble since meeting Marco and Thatch and _yeah_, even the old man. It was time to stop teetering on that precipice of indecision and leap. No looking back._

"_I'm fine," he said, smiling first at Whitebeard, then Thatch. It felt genuine and right and good on his lips. "Just fine."_

_His choice was made. But before he took that final step, he wanted to see Marco. _

_He wanted to see the phoenix._

_

* * *

_  
"Tents are so cool!" Luffy says, head poking between the flaps of the tent they'd managed to erect after many an incident - Zoro's head ached where Luffy'd swung a pole at the rock outcropped they were camping under and missed. "It reminds me of when we lived in our treehouse, Ace."

He breaks into a huge grin, shoulders shaking as he laughs at some memory. "I wonder if it'll be as drafty? Not as sturdy, that's for sure."

"It was still there when I left." Luffy crawls out from the tent to hug her brother. He tilts her chin up and kisses her fondly on the forehead, the nose, the mouth.

"Not bad for a trio of kids."

_Trio?_ Zoro wonders vaguely who the third may be and if another brother will show up out of the blue. Yet the thought feels off; Luffy never mentioned Ace was her brother, but she _did_ mention him, which is more than he could say for this possible second brother. Had something happened to him?

Luffy yawns and scratches her nose, ready to turn in for the night. She tumbles through the tent flaps - Ace ducking in after her - and the swordsman turns back to the fire, intent on making himself comfortable. Two more tents stand close by, taken by the girls and Sanji, Usopp, and Chopper respectively. He has no desire to sleep with the shitty cook, and now that Luffy and Ace have some semblance of privacy, he bets they want a bit of time to themselves. Ace wouldn't be here much longer. He's considerate enough to leave them alone.

He's just gotten settled against a boulder, swords resting in the cradle of his arm, when Luffy appears next to him.

"Whatcha doing, Zoro?"

"Sleeping," he grunts. "Go away."

"But why out here and not with me?" Luffy grabs his sleeve and tugs, as if that's enough to get him up.

He yanks his clothing free, scowling. "I doubt your brother would appreciate it."

"Ace won't mind," Luffy says, confused. "Didn't we all sleep together in the crow's nest?"

"That's different."

"How?"

Luffy really is an idiot. "He's going to have sex with you, right?"

"Well, yeah."

"Then don't keep the guy waiting." Zoro is shocked when Luffy grips him beneath the arms and _pulls_, manhandling Zoro to his feet and shoving him towards the tent. The swordsman barely keeps hold of his katana.

"What are you doing?" he splutters angrily, growing angrier still when he's pushed inside and sees Ace sitting there, naked from the waist up and grinning in welcome.

"Loosen up a little," the older pirate says, clapping Zoro on the shoulder. "Think of it sharing! Just, you know, at the same time."

Zoro stares at him blankly. Even if Ace accepts Luffy sleeping with him, the man _can't_ want to actually watch it happen in front of him. But Ace is helping Luffy strip off his Alabastan outfit with gusto.

"I won't touch you unless you ask me to." Ace wiggles his fingers in Zoro's face. Instead of being offended, it's all Zoro can do not to laugh at him. He may have the manners Luffy lacked, but they were both ridiculous and _insane_.

A soft touch on his cheek has Zoro turning to look at Luffy, who's smiling at him, eyes bright and eager. Luffy clearly wants this, and as she kisses him Zoro decides it can't hurt to indulge her just this once.

It's unnaturally warm in the cramped space. Zoro is happy to shed his clothes, lose himself in supple tan skin and a familiar mouth that tastes of joy, and when he wakes the next morning to Ace snoring away beside him and the sounds of Luffy's excited desert exploration, he feels fucking fantastic.

_Guess it won't hurt_, he thinks, too lazy to move, _if big brother visits more often._

_

* * *

_  
Marco will be back tonight.

_So Whitebeard had said, yet it was nearing midnight and still there was no sign of him. Ace stood propped against the railings, eyes fixed on the sea, straining to spot a boat looming in the black water. It was nearly impossible to see and the tension was giving him a headache, so Ace took a break to watch the stars instead._

_The tiny points of lights shone so brilliantly in the middle of the ocean; living in the mountains had not lessened the glare of Goa at night, and their view of the dark sky was murky at best. There was an odd one low in the sky, pulsing blue-gold and widening as if coming closer. Ten minutes later it became clear that the blue light was not a star but an object approaching at speed, burning brighter than even the moon._

_If they were in imminent danger, surely the men on watch would sound an alarm, but the object was nearly at the ship and no one seemed bothered. In a swirl of what Ace could now see were flames, it landed not two feet away._

_Ace forgot to breathe._

_He knew immediately that this was it. _This_ was what Ace had been yearning to see since first learning of Marco's Devil Fruit: the phoenix, talons scuffing the railing and strange golden tail feathers brushing his hip when Ace stepped closer, flames dazzlingly intense in defiance of the night, elegant neck arching towards him in invitation. Even if Ace hadn't acquired the abilities of the Mera Mera, even if he was unaware those flames posed no threat, he would have touched anyway. Every elemental instinct he possessed screamed at Ace to toss himself into the enticing warmth of blue and gold._

_Ace never denied his instincts._

_Marco had meant to allow Ace a chance to stroke his flames and feathers, to get a feel for this part of him Ace had never experienced before. As usual, Ace had to go utterly overboard; unsatisfied with just the delicate throat Marco offered for exploration, he threw himself at the phoenix's body, shuddering at the feel of being surrounded by the blue flames that enthralled him so. This was Marco finally, _finally_ letting Ace see all of him. This was Marco sharing his last secret._

_Ace's arms clung to the burning bird, hugging with all his strength and silently begging Marco to let him, to just let him have this moment. Everything had fallen into place; he was Whitebeard's, yes. But he was Marco's as well._

_Something pointed prodded insistently at the base of his skull, and a fraction of sanity returned to Ace. He realized he'd crushed his face to Marco's feathers, was rubbing his cheek against them and doing his best to soak the fire into his skin. They were pressed so tightly together his chest tickled with every shift of fiery plumage as Marco breathed, the rhythm of inhale-exhale oddly hitched._

_Reluctantly, Ace released his friend, a creeping sense of embarrassment heating the tips of his ears. But after ending the battle he'd been fighting with his pride and distrust for so long, witnessing the phoenix was a bit too much for his unraveled heart to take. If Marco hadn't suspected Ace wanted him before, he certainly knew now._

"_Sorry," he muttered, and smoldering ringed eyes held his own as Marco shifted to human form but for the wing on which Ace had kept un unconscious grip. The man wasn't frowning or scowling or broadcasting any hint he was angry. Instead, he looked at Ace with an expression one might describe as awe._

"_Something's different, yoi. Something about you has changed." Marco cupped Ace's cheek, sweeping the rough pad of his thumb over the high bone in a gesture dangerously close to a caress. For the second time in three minutes, all the air was stolen from Ace's lungs. "What happened?"_

I'm going to join the crew _is what he meant to say, but it came out as, "I couldn't sleep while you were gone. It was so empty, your bed-" Ace choked on the words, not sure how to continue or if he even wanted to. Any second now, Marco would call him a brat, maybe cuff him around the head and tell him to find another place to sleep tonight. But with his head such a mess of emotions, he didn't know if he could bear being turned away._

_Marco pried his wing free of Ace's grasp and lifted it so he could grasp Ace's face with both hands. His eyes were searching, sharp and serious. Ace stilled beneath that weighted stare and _hoped_._

"_Hn. Seems like my brat finally grew up."_

_And then Marco kissed him._

_Frozen by disbelief, Ace did not immediately respond. Marco seemed to expect this, nipping softly at his lips and flicking his tongue out to taste, patiently coaxing Ace to kiss back, keeping it chaste until Ace got with the program and threw his arms around Marco's neck, fisting his shirt to yank him closer. The older man nudged Ace's legs apart, stepping between them to bring their bodies flush, bare chests brushing and setting each and every one of Ace's nerves alight._

"_Marco," Ace moaned as their mouths separated. He tugged at blond hair, trying to kiss Marco again, but the phoenix clapped a hand over his mouth to shush him._

"_My bed won't be quite so lonely now, yoi." Ace was surprised to see pink coloring his cheeks. "And this is no place for the things I have planned."_

_His gruff tone left Ace shuddering and doing his best to stand on legs shaky with desire. They made it to Marco's room, but not without Ace sporting a new hickey and finger-shaped bruises on his bicep. He'd lost his belt along the way. Marco's shirt had disappeared and Ace couldn't resist tracing his tattoo, accidentally catching a nipple with his thumb and repeating the motion on purpose when Marco hissed between clenched teeth and shoved Ace against the nearest wall, pinning Ace's arms to his sides and desperately wrestling for his nonexistent control._

_And Marco had been right; the bed was far from empty with Marco laid flat upon it and Ace straddling him, keening as Marco scratched blunt nails over his back, marking him. Claiming him inside and out._

_Every member of Whitebeard's family bore his symbol in permanent ink. As the welts from Marco's nails stung, as he bent Ace on all fours and sucked aching bites onto his sweat slick skin, Ace knew where he would take his._

_

* * *

_  
"Are you really leaving, Ace?"

"Yeah," he says, smiling down at the little reindeer. "Blackbeard isn't in Alabasta, so there's no point in me staying."

"Ace wants to hurry home, right? There's someone waiting for you." Luffy is grinning in spite of her brother's imminent departure, Zoro is surprised to see. Considering how often she'd asked Ace to join the crew he'd expected her to try and make him stay. Yet Luffy seems to understand all the reasons why he won't - by the sound of it, she isn't his only bed partner - and is willing to let him go without a fight.

Ace tips his hat low, throwing his face into shadows deepened by the bloody light of the setting sun. "Ah. Just gotta hurry up and finish that bastard." He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a sheet of paper, tossing it to Luffy. "This will ensure we meet again. Want it?"

"I do, I do!" Luffy unfolds it, curiously turning it over in her hands. She pout when she realizes it's blank, like maybe she'd expected to find miracle directions that would point her toward Ace at all time.

"Then we'll see each other again at the Pirate's Summit. I'll be waiting, Luffy." With a final cheerful wave and a blast of fire, Ace disappears.

He's gone, just like that.

They need to move on and find a place to camp for the night. As the others scramble to gather their packs, Zoro watches Luffy lift her eyes to the burning sky, hoping for a last glimpse of her brother. Luffy may not have demanded he stay, but she'll miss him, is likely missing him already. Hell, even Zoro's sad to see him go. Ace was a live son of a bitch.

"Hey," he says, offering Luffy his back. "Get on. I'll carry you for awhile."

"Awesome! Zoro piggyback!" She leaps at him, knocking the breath out of him in her enthusiasm. Christ, Luffy has far too much energy.

Cupping Luffy's ass to more easily take her weight, Zoro starts walking. Their nakama will catch up eventually, and he's feeling greedy, wants a moment with Luffy to himself after days of sharing her attention and affection. Luffy drapes her arms around his shoulders, nuzzles at the damp hair at the back of his neck and kisses him there.

"We'll see him again. Sooner rather than later, I'm sure."

"Of course," she says, slipping her hand down the collar of shirt to rest in the center of his chest. Beneath her splayed fingers, his heart races.

* * *

_Sunlight streamed through the porthole, stirring a lone figure from rest. Marco sat up, rubbing sleep from his eyes and smiling affectionately at the space next to him. The empty space._

_When Marco touched them, the sheets were cold. No one had been here for hours._

_He squashed the disappointment and hurt churning in his stomach; honestly, what had he been expecting? With whatever curiosity he'd held in Marco appeased, Ace was free to shift his interest to someone else, and Marco wouldn't blame him for it. He was twice Ace's age, after all. A certified geezer._

_But last night he'd been so _certain_. A drastic shift in Ace's behavior, the way his brat had trembled while embracing his phoenix form, as if in that second everything suddenly clicked and he was happy at last. Marco could have sworn his choice was made: the choice to stay, as Edward Newgate's son and as Marco's…_

_Sighing, Marco pulled on the pieces of clothing he could find scattered around the room, hesitating as he spotted one of Ace's boots. Surely he wouldn't run off without his shoes?_

_His shirt was long gone. Marco vaguely remembered Ace tearing it from his shoulders somewhere in the hallway, so he decided a search was in order. His neck and chest were dotted with bruises from Ace's mouth - if Thatch saw him, he'd be in for relentless mocking - but though he could erase them with a small burst of healing flame, he couldn't bring himself to do so. If he couldn't have Ace, he'd accept the fading marks as keepsakes._

_His shirt wasn't anywhere in the hall. He took to the deck, wondering if he'd misjudged where Ace dropped it. He sprinted around the entire ship without a single sign of it, and he'd finally decided it blew overboard when he turned a corner and there it was: wrapped snugly around Ace's shoulders._

_The boy had his face curved towards the sea, head tilted back to let the breeze wash over him. "Take it off," Ace said without looking at him._

_Marco did so, heart pounding as hope flooded his veins. Could it be? Could it be-?_

_His shirt slithered to the deck as Marco smoothed his hands over Ace's arms, revealing a swathe of loose bandages. They came away easily, and Marco was floored by the rush of emotion that surged through him at the sight of Ace's new tattoo. Their father's symbol swallowed the expanse of his back, huge and unmistakable, a thing to be worn with pride and faith in a man he would never betray._

"_Welcome home," Marco whispered, taking Ace's mouth in a deep, devouring kiss that said all those things he couldn't put to words. By the end of it, Ace was clawing at his shoulders, red faced and panting and frantic with lust as Marco stroked his fingertips across the tattoo over and over and over again._

"_Can we go back to bed?" Ace scrambled to kiss him again, artless and sloppy but still so perfect. "Please?"_

"_I suppose so, yoi." Marco smirked, taking Ace by the wrist and leading him back to his - _their_ - room, their bed. And it was theirs, had been since that first night months ago when Ace struggled and swore yet fell asleep so quickly in his arms._

_He felt a pinch on his ass. Ace, cheeky grin firmly in place, kept his hand where it was._

"_Damn brat."_

_

* * *

_  
"- will finish off Vivi and that pirate crew without fail if you give me -" Mr. 3's words are violently cut short as his throat is swiftly crushing in a punishing grip. If he doesn't think fast, Crocodile will kill him.

"W-wait…there's s-something…" he wheezes, "something you…don't know about…S-straw Hat -"

Crocodile's fingers loosen momentarily as he considers the plea, and then Mr. 3 is dropped unceremoniously to the floor.

"I guarantee this will be of utmost interest to you, sir," Mr. 3 whispers hoarsely when air returns to his lungs, only to lose it again as Crocodile's foot connects with his ribs.

"Quit your babbling," Crocodile says, stepping away from Mr. 3's cowering form, "and speak quickly. You have three seconds."

He can only hope this will be enough.

* * *

A/N - Did Zoro/Ace happen in that tent? That's entirely up to you, dear reader.

And thus ends the Marco/Ace flashbacks. I'm sure you'll either be pleased or disappointed depending on how much you enjoy the pairing, but there will be more of it during the Marineford arc chapter(s). Maybe I'll even be able to work a little Marco/Ace/Luffy in, eh? :3

Chapter nine will see the return of a reasonable word count and the end of the Alabasta arc. Next is the introduction of the third main pairing of this story, Luffy/surprise. I'm actually surprised no one guessed it yet, but I supposed a few sentences of foreshadowing for a pretty rare pairing isn't much to go on.

Two hints:

a) It's not a Straw Hat.

b) It's someone Luffy has already met.

Fufufu, have fun puzzling it out.

Next chapter: Crocodile knows, Robin finds out in a rather dramatic manner, and Luffy end up in the wrong bath.


	11. a herald of change

Pairings (this chapter): Zoro/Luffy, one-sided Crocodile/Luffy

Rating: PG-16

**Warning**: Crocodile being his jerkass self. Violence.

I'd like to make it clear that Crocodile/Luffy is NOT the surprise pairing. That starts _next_ chapter.

Thank you for over a hundred reviews! I wasn't expecting it to happen yet, but I received a surprising number last time and suddenly BAM I hit the triple digits. I can't express how happy it makes me.

Which is what makes this really hard to say: my life for the next few months is going to be insanely hectic. I'm having wrist surgery on top of everything, and I have no idea how that's going to affect my ability to type, since it's my dominant hand...RL is cramping my style, yo.

So, yeah. I'm only going to be posting once a month. This might be useful, though. I'd like the Fishman Island arc to end before I catch up with the manga and start on the few original plots I have planned.

Without further ado, enjoy.

9 - a herald of change

Straw Hat is shockingly easy to catch despite her persistent meddling in his affairs; she has little more than air between her ears, that much is immediately obvious. Still, there's a deep satisfaction to be had in finally trapping the little pest behind bars.

What Straw Hat lacks in intelligence she certainly makes up for in fire. It's pure entertainment, how she shouts at him every chance she gets, eyes ferociously dark and voice seething with an anger verging on feral - he'd think his useless ex-subordinate dared _lie_ to him, only the swordsman's gaze lingers a touch too long on her heaving chest as she pants, collapses from handling the kairoseki prison - and as Crocodile leaves Straw Hat Luffy to die, he finds himself hoping, foolishly, that she will escape.

He wants to break that feisty spirit with his own hands. He wants to show her what happens to rookies on these seas.

Laughter rumbles from his throat, low and hoarse, as the idea of keeping her flourishes, becoming more desirable with each passing moment. Nico Robin glances at him from the corner of her eye but says nothing.

If Straw Hat survives, the real fun begins.

* * *

It's like she has been drugged by rage. Her senses are muffled by the white noise of _angergriefwhywhywhy _and her instincts dulled by the flood of emotion. Luffy is overwhelmed by this potent mix of feelings, a brand new experience that she's suffering for before she's even aware of Crocodile's hook forcing its way through skin and muscle to ravage her insides dangerously close, fatally close, to the place her heart beats.

And her heart is still pumping - won't give up so easily - but now every contraction meant to spread life-giving blood through her body is instead spraying it into the cold desert night. It seeps into the fur of _his_ coat, drenches it, and Luffy can hardly breath for the liquid rising in her throat. She coughs. Droplets of red splash across his face, and he's laughing now, sure of his victory.

"You'd make quite the interesting pet, woman. If you submit to me now, I'll let you live."

The pain is excruciating, wracking her limp form as he lifts her from the ground. He's still laughing as Luffy dangles from that hook with nothing else to support her weight. And though the agony doubles, triples, a brutal frustration tears at Luffy and gives her the strength to move, to wrap her fingers around the arm holding her up and crush it with the last ounce of strength left in her. Luffy imagines she can hear a terrible groaning snap as bone gives way.

Crocodile roars. She is thrown into the air, and the sickening pressure of the hook retreating from her chest is almost a relief, though blood flows freely from the punctures. Luffy lands in the pit, and though she struggles against the inexorable flow of sand she has nothing left to fight with. Her feet slide from beneath her and Luffy is dragged down and down and down until one last frantic gasp for air leaves only sand in her lungs and the desert swallows her whole.

But she will not surrender.

Blinded, unable to breathe and alone with her pain, Luffy claws wildly at her sand prison and is rewarded as it gives way and her head emerges into the open. But the reprieve is brief. Without the strength to pull herself from the shifting waves of sand, Luffy sinks under once again.

This time there is only air in her lungs. As long as she has that much, Luffy will continue to struggle. She prepares to break through a second time, but suddenly there are hands grabbing hold of her, many, many hands that lift her free, draw her from the pit and onto steadier ground.

Luffy wants to thank this person for saving her life. She can't quite manage to open her eyes. In fact, little of her body responds to her demands for it to _move goddamnit _but at the very least she will not loose the battle with her vision. A figure swims into blurry focus and _oh_ Luffy recognizes that dark skin, that black hair, those blue eyes.

She hasn't been saved after all.

"Get awa-" She chokes on the words. More blood flies from her lips.

Ms. AllSunday pays no mind to her spluttered threats, attention on the oozing wounds of her exposed chest.

"A female D," she murmurs. "How fascinating."

"Wh-at?"

"Do you know of the Will of D?" Her voice quavers with a fervor near madness. Ms. AllSunday sounds almost as desperate as Luffy feels. "Tell me!"

"I d-don't under-" The blood in her throat steals the rest away, and the other woman stands, merely watching as Luffy does all she can not to suffocate on her own blood.

Then she turns, looking beyond the place Luffy lays dying and says, "She can still be saved. If you do not wish to see your country in ruins, this woman will be necessary."

There's the sound of a person shuffling towards her, and a masculine voice Luffy doesn't recognize. He's saying something, but Luffy knows only one thing can fix the mess Crocodile has made of her.

As soon as the man comes close enough, Luffy grabs hold of him and refuses to let go even when he shouts in alarm.

"MEEEEEEEAT!"

* * *

Zoro knows Luffy will be fine. He has complete faith in her ability to give Crocodile the vicious beating he deserves.

But there is a heavy disquiet in his gut he cannot shake. He hadn't imagined Crocodile watching Luffy with malice and a twisted interest while they were trapped in that cage. There's a nauseating worry that he may be aware of Luffy's real gender.

They've been lucky so far. With Luffy hiding that part of herself away, there's been no risk of an enemy trying to…take advantage of her. While the pirates they've faced up until now were incapable of defeating Luffy, let alone trying anything with her if they did, Zoro reluctantly admits Crocodile is different.

The man is dangerous. Cruel. An utter jackass.

If he accomplishes the impossible and beats Luffy…

No. There was no way Luffy can lose to a man like that.

"Swordsman-san?" Zoro pulls himself from his brooding to find Vivi staring at him in concern. "Are you alright?"

"Fine," he grunts, and returns to pumping his makeshift weights. But it seems the princess won't be so easily deterred.

"If this is about Luffy-san-"

"The captain can take of herself." Zoro closes his eyes in concentration. "It's best to just leave her be. Crocodile will get fucked up, exactly as she promised. You need to focus on how you'll put an end to this revolt."

Vivi rocks back on her heels, fists clenched and eyes on the stars. "Of course. You're quite right, Swordsman-san." When she looks at him again, her face is set in determination. "I trust Luffy-san will win. We all believe in her."

"Yeah," Zoro says, and wishes he could ignore the persistent agitation that screams otherwise.

This is the first time he's wanted to rush back to Luffy's side, the first time he's wanted to get between her and an opponent Luffy has chosen for her own. Crocodile unsettles him.

But Luffy had given him an order. It's his job as first mate to carry that order out, no matter how much he wishes to disobey; if he chases after her and Luffy's had no trouble, his captain will be pissed and Zoro will be left with guilt and regret.

So he'll stay. He'll get Vivi home safely so she can work her magic and trust that Luffy will win just as unflinchingly as he has all those times before. And when it's over, he'll take Luffy aside for a private celebration and prove to himself just how right he was to believe.

* * *

"You idiot," Zoro whispers, crashes his mouth to Luffy's in a frantic and sloppy kiss, a mess of saliva and undirected tongue that doesn't adequately convey what he'd felt upon seeing her battered and exhausted body slumped across the shoulders of the king. "What were you thinking, letting that asshole stab you and poison you and shit knows what else!"

"But I'm okay." Luffy pouts at him. She doesn't understand how Zoro had nearly driven himself insane with worry when she refused to wake up for _three fucking days_. They'd all been injured. A day spent recovering in the bed next to Luffy's had been almost pleasant. Then he'd healed and Luffy remained unconscious and he'd just-

Zoro sighs, noses at hair that still smells of blood and lets himself relaxes. Luffy is awake now. There's no point in getting angry at either of them, yet the possibility of Crocodile knowing about Luffy still bothers him. "Oi, did that Croc guy say anything to you?"

"He said lots of things…"

"I meant anything about you being a girl. Does he know?"

"Um." Luffy scrunches her face in thought, pursing her lips as she tries to remember. "Oh yeah! Right after he stabbed me. Something about making me his pet or whatever. Eh, what a weirdo."

Zoro grits his teeth in an effort not to growl. So he really hadn't imagined Crocodile watching Luffy too closely in Rainbase.

Luffy rubs the pads of her fingers over his clenched jaw, frowning slightly. "You shouldn't worry about that. I bet we won't ever see him again! Smokey probably got him."

The thought of Crocodile rotting away in prison is a comforting one. Zoro smirks, feeling oddly triumphant, and kisses Luffy again. Slowly this time, and Luffy slides her tongue across his bottom lip as Zoro massages her back, pressing deep with his fingers until she's purring against his mouth in contentment.

He's just contemplating how much time he has before Luffy's stomach starts demanding to be fed and if he can get her clothes off before then when the door to their room swings open. Vivi is standing there, the smile on her face faltering as she realizes Luffy is spread across Zoro's lap.

"Oh!" she gasps, covering her deeply red face with her hands. "I'm so sorry, I should have knocked. Please forgive me!"

Luffy laughs and slides from Zoro's grasp. "It's okay."

"Did you want something?" Zoro asks, mildly annoyed at being disturbed but unwilling to take it out on their friend. He'd told the others they'd be napping.

"I just came to tell you dinner is ready," she says, smiling weakly. "We can wait if this is a bad time."

"It's never a bad time for food!" Luffy is already racing out the door. Zoro huffs and wonders if he should be bothered that Luffy likes eating more than him.

* * *

Zoro hadn't know baths like this existed outside of crappy romance novels about princes and their one true loves or whatever. But he's been proved so very wrong by this ridiculously luxurious room of steaming water and miles upon miles of marble. Seriously, he's never seen so much marble in his life.

Leaving his clothes in a heap on the floor of the locker room - purposely ignoring the quaint wooden shelves to make a statement - he steps out into all that marble, chuckling as Usopp goes skidding across the damp tile and smacks into a wall nose first. Sanji is staring at the divider between the men and women's baths as if it's stolen away everything he loves; Nami and Vivi can be heard chatting quietly on the other side. Their occasional giggles of delight seem to be driving the cook mad.

A hoof tugs shyly at the towel tucked around his waist, and Zoro looks down to see Chopper smiling tentatively. "Will you wash my back, Zoro?"

He grunts in agreement, sits the reindeer down next to a bucket full of soapy water and gently works his fingers through the matted fur presented to him. There are still granules of sand hidden beneath his pelt despite the brisk scrub downs they'd subjected themselves to the past few days in bathrooms far less extravagant than this one. Zoro digs in with his blunt nails, scrubs as hard as he dares and is rewarded with a relieved sigh. The grains of sand must have been irritating Chopper's skin, though he's not complained about it once, working through the discomfort to focus on caring for their wrecked captain.

As he continues to meticulously hunt down and remove any remaining sand from Chopper's fur, Zoro slowly becomes aware that something is missing. Usopp, frolicking. Sanji, trying desperately to scale the divider. Chopper is with him and even the king and crazy wig guy were here. He can hear Nami and Vivi next door.

Wash my back…

"_Neh, Zoro. Wash my back later, okay?"_

With mounting dread, Zoro pauses his ministrations and asks, "Where's Luffy?"

Everyone freezes. Then there's a crash from the locker room and the girl in question comes racing into the baths naked as the day she was born.

_Good grief_, Zoro thinks.

The speed of her entry causes Luffy's feet to slip and she ends up on her ass, flailing wildly and screeching in joy as she goes flying across the tile, ricocheting off one wall and spinning towards another. Zoro snags her ankle as she passes him, effectively putting an end to her uncontrolled slide.

"Oh," she says, dazed by her sudden stop. "Hi Zoro! Nami told me I wasn't supposed to come see you, but I didn't get why so I ignored her."

All at once there are several different noises of shock echoing throughout the bath. Usopp is humming to himself, back turned to the place Luffy lies spread-eagled and shameless. Sanji has half passed out, spouting gibberish and blood pouring from his nose. The wig guy is gaping with jaw dropping surprise - he's clearly only just being let in on the secret of Luffy's gender - and the king rubs his eyes and gradually exhales a drawn out breath, the calmest of the bunch.

Strangely unfazed by their nude captain, Chopper helps Luffy sit up and asks if she's hurt. She shakes her head. "I wanna do it again!"

Cobra coughs politely to get their attention, and says, eyes averted, "Perhaps you should bathe with my daughter, Luffy-kun."

"But Zoro promised to wash my back! Right, Zoro? Right?"

"…I guess so," Zoro says, though he remembers promising no such thing. It had been more of a roundabout order disguised as a suggestion. It feels like he has no choice.

"There's no denying her what she wants," he says to the king, shrugging dismissively before dragging Luffy into position beside Chopper. If the reindeer doesn't mind a naked woman sitting beside him, Zoro will just use both hands and wash them together.

The contrast of Chopper's silky and the smooth expanse of Luffy's skin is intriguing. Both are warm under his hands, and he can feel the rise and fall of their shoulders as they breathe. Chopper is almost finished, so he concentrates on Luffy, exploring intact flesh that had not long ago been littered with cuts and bruises and burns. He's never been more grateful for her insane ability to recuperate from even the worst injury.

When Chopper is beginning to be swallowed by bubbles, Zoro fills another bucket with water and carefully rinses the soap away. He's left with a very clean, very happy doctor who smiles and thanks him and then goes to check if Sanji's still alive.

Now that they're alone, Zoro lifts Luffy into his lap so he can wash the rest of her as well, kneading her shoulders and gliding his hands briefly across her breasts. Between them are the only surviving marks of her fight with Crocodile; two bruises of deep purple and blue where the hook had penetrated. He prods them gingerly with the tip of a finger, and though Luffy shivers she doesn't appear to be in much pain. Zoro takes his time with her, scratching lightly at her stomach until she laughs, caressing her thighs with wide, sweeping arcs of his thumb and tickling the backs of her knees and soles of her feet. After Luffy's body is finished, he moves on to her hair, scrubbing in roughs circles before unceremoniously dumping a bucket of cold water in her face.

Luffy whines at him, though the sound cuts short when Zoro wipes the soap from her eyes, tilting her head back for the next pass of the bucket so her skull is cradled in the curve of his throat. And when the soap is gone, Luffy twists in his arms to press a kiss to his collarbone. A quick glance reveals that everyone else has beat a hasty retreat. He and Luffy have the bath to themselves.

"Zoro," she purrs, eyes half-lidded and begging for him to take this chance. No one will disturb them.

"Come here," he says, unnecessary because Luffy is all over him, tongue hot on his neck and jaw and sliding between his lips, fingers trailing teasing paths down his chest and lower still. He groans and bites her ear in retaliation.

She's eager in his arms, and Zoro would be happy enough to take her here and now, put this stupid marble bath to highly inappropriate use, except that he's pruning and chilly in the cooling air. He can feel goose bumps erupting across Luffy's skin.

He wants her badly, but this isn't the place.

"Let's get out of here," he says, slapping at Luffy's ass to get her moving. She grumbles but doesn't resist when Zoro hauls her up on trembling legs.

"We've got an actual bed now, remember?" And _that_ gets Luffy streaking into the locker room and dressed before Zoro can even find his own clothes.

He grins in anticipation. After all, they've never done it on a bed before.

* * *

"Captain-san, have you met anyone else with a D in their name? One similar to your own?"

Luffy looks up at her newest nakama from where she's collapsed on the deck, recovering from the latest round of their extreme tickle wars. Robin is a master of the art.

"There's my brother, Ace. And my grandpa," Luffy answers, nose wrinkling at the thought of the old man and the beating she's going to get next time they see each other. It's a day she dreads.

"No women?"

"Uh-uh." Luffy cocks her head. "Why'd you wanna know?"

Robin twines her fingers together and places her chin upon them, eyes on the horizon and peculiarly distant. "I have heard of many who carry the D, yet not one of them were female. And then I encountered you…" She trails off, and after a moment, murmurs, "You, who are most certainly a bearer of the Will. A herald of change."

"I don't get it," Luffy says, pursing her lips in confusion. She likes Robin - she saved her life twice, after all - but the older woman talks really oddly. Luffy doesn't understand half of what she says.

Robin chuckles and picks up the thick tome she'd set aside to speak with Luffy. "Nevermind, Captain-san. It may very well mean nothing."

Luffy shrugs, flopping back against the _Merry_. "I'm glad you're here, Robin. We're going to have lots of super fun adventures!"

"I'm sure we will, Captain-san," Robin smiles, enigmatic and sharp and deliberate. "I'm sure we will."

* * *

A/N - I got to write violence! While I will forever prefer fluff, I honestly can't stand things without blood in 'em. Gotta have my gore.

You have no clue how excited I am for the next chapter. I've been waiting to write it since I began this fic - before that, even - and now it's here. A pairing I've always wanted to try, but had no decent story ideas for. Luffyko makes it almost too easy.

Next chapter: Nami forces Luffy undercover when they dock at a Marine-run island, and Luffy encounters a man she hadn't meant to reunite with quite yet…but will he recognize her?


	12. the hot summer sky

Pairings (this chapter): Ace/Luffy

Rating: PG-15

**Warning**: None really. Just Ace and Luffy making out against a tree.

Very short interlude, here. Just a little thing I wrote for a Tumblr friend's birthday. Hopefully this will tide you over until I post the next real chapter sometime next week. Cross your fingers it'll be next week, anyway. Still hard for me to type.

interlude three - the hot summer sky

Ace darted across the twig strewn ground, wincing every time a sliver of wood cracked beneath his feet. Distantly, a sound spiraled into the hot summer sky: the cry of a mother wolf searching for her pups.

"Accccce! Luuuuuffy!"

The enemy was closing in and he still hadn't found his sister. If _he_ found Luffy before Ace did, the result would be exceedingly unpleasant for both of them. He ran faster, hoping against hope that Luffy would be somewhere nearby. If some higher power was feeling generous, maybe Luffy had decided to spend the day poking around Grey Terminal. At least she'd be safe from the most pressing danger on Dawn Island.

Their grandfather.

Suddenly, his tank top was seized in a solid grip, yanking him backwards against a familiar figure. Luffy peered up at him, tapping one finger to her lips in a shushing gesture as she drew him deeper into the crevasse she'd discovered, carved by the passage of time into one of the largest trees on Mount Colbo.

It wasn't bad as far as hiding places went, so Ace wedged himself in beside Luffy. The fit was tight, their bodies pressed together from chests to knees. Luffy grinned at him, cheeks flushed and clearly delighted to have successfully evaded Garp, and though Ace didn't quite believe they were out of the woods yet he found himself smiling at his precious younger sibling. He felt ten years old again.

And then he just _didn't _because Luffy was warm and soft and her curves rubbed him just right with every breath she took. This was neither the time nor place - Garp was tearing the mountain apart searching for them - but he was also seventeen and had the raging hormones to prove it.

Luffy shifted a fraction, hands settling on Ace's hips and accidentally scratching the skin there with her ragged nails, pink welts raising in their wake. The slight flare of pain made him shudder, and there was really no hiding _that_ from Luffy while she was so close; her expression switched from childish glee to a darker sort of excitement, pupils dilating and mouth falling open for a wet swipe of tongue. Her eyes dipped away from Ace's gaze, over his lips and throat and chest to the place their thighs touched. Ace could feel his body responding without his permission.

"Cut it out, Luffy. The old man is here. We can't," he whispered urgently, wishing he had space to put between them.

Luffy's eyes returned to his face, and she licked her lips again, this time near enough to brush the tip of her tongue across the pouty arch of his mouth. "Grandpa won't find us here."

"You don't know that for sure! Luffy-" His irresponsible sister was having none of it. Luffy kissed him, effectively ending his protests and shutting down the rational part of his brain. Ace groaned, tugging on her bottom lip with his teeth in retaliation, his fingers creeping up the hem of her shirt to skate along the smooth expanse of her back. He slid his hand around to cup the small swell of her breasts in his palm. Luffy purred into the kiss, opening to allow Ace inside, flicking her tongue fleetingly over his. So she wanted to play, eh?

He flattened Luffy against the rough bark, the moan he received in response pure pleasure; never had Ace been more grateful for her Fruit ability, the durable rubber body it gifted her with allowing him to throw caution to the wind. Luffy fumbled eagerly at his belt, wanting nothing more than to get it _off_.

Ace no longer cared about Garp or consequences. All he needed was Luffy in his arms, loving him, reminding him that even if the world wished him dead there would always be someone who called him _home_, someone who wanted him to live…

Dry leaves crunched behind them, followed by a startled inhale. Reality came flooding back. Ace tore away from Luffy, expecting the worst and dreading what would happen now that the old man knew how affectionate - intimate - he and Luffy truly were. Oh god, they'd be separated, and Ace didn't think he could bear being taken from Luffy by anything but the sea. He'd have to leave soon enough for the sake of his dream, but to go before then…

"Makino!" Ace heard Luffy laugh in relief. The name snapped him out of his panic. He turned to look, and sure enough it was the bartender standing there, not their old man. She was red with embarrassment, yet she didn't seem overly surprised to have stumbled across Ace making out with his sister-by-oath.

The older woman sighed, covering her burning face with her hands. "Luffy, really! You need to be more careful."

"We are careful!" Luffy said. "Ace always uses those 'condom' things you gave me."

"N-not _that_ sort of careful!"

Ace didn't have the slightest clue as to what was going on, though he'd admittedly been curious as to how Luffy had magically produced condoms the first time she suggested they have sex. And _oh_, what a sucker punch that had been.

Makino was eyeing him a tad suspiciously. Ace knew he was in for one of her lectures, so when they heard the unmistakable sound of Garp yelling after them Ace took the opportunity to grab Luffy's wrist and run like hell, mumbling an apology to Makino as they streaked past her.

He'd ask for the details later, _after_ they avoided getting their skulls beaten in.

* * *

A/N - I'll take this chance to update you on what's happening with me. Basically, the cast I got a few days ago after having my arm wrapped in immobilizing bandages for a week doesn't allow me to type comfortably, as I'd hoped it would.

Good news is that I now have an iPad, and I can type like a mofo on it. Beautiful touch screen is beautiful.

As a reward for making you wait forever, I'll go ahead and confirm the pairing next chapter as Shanks/Luffy.

Later, guys~

Oh! And if you haven't read/watched Toriko, I suggest giving it a try. I intend to start writing fic for it this summer. The first episode is a crossover with One Piece, so how can you go wrong? I suggest the manga, though, because it's all kinds if badass.


	13. thousands of miles

Pairings (this chapter): Shanks/Luffy, brief Zoro/Luffy and Nami/Luffy

Rating: PG-13

**Warning**: None.

This was not what I intended to post. Splitting the chapter in half was not part of the plan.

There are a few reasons why I'm splitting it, but I'll leave those for the end notes.

10 - thousands of miles

"We have a problem," Nami announces, smacking her hands onto the railing overlooking _Merry's _deck. Her nakama glance up from their various activities, except for Zoro, who's sleeping, and Luffy, who pokes her head out from between Nami's mikan trees, cheeks bulging around a mouthful of fruit. Nami takes a moment to punish the captain for her trespass before continuing. "Robin has kindly informed me that it will take a full day for the log pose to set."

"So?" Usopp asks, lifting the goggles from his eyes.

"_So_, this island hosts a Marine base, and I don't want to get chased while we wait. There are certain idiots on this ship who will be spotted in no time." Nami glares between the napping Zoro and Luffy, still writhing on the ground and clutching her painfully swollen forehead.

Sanji exhales a ring of smoke and says, "Just put the useless marimo on watch duty, Nami-san."

"That's fine, but what about Luffy? She can't be trusted to stay with the ship." Nami taps a finger against her lips in thought, sending Sanji into a frenzy of ~Mellorine~.

"I don't wanna stay behind!" Luffy whines. She sits up, eyeing Nami warily as she does so.

"May I make a suggestion?"

Nami turns to look at Robin. The archeologist emerges from the kitchen, a small smile playing at the edges of her mouth and a mischievous glint in her blue eyes. Nami likes Robin - the woman is a much needed break from the constant idiocy - but she can be scary sometimes. Whatever she says next will probably end badly for all of them.

"…Of course."

Robin comes to stand next to her, smile growing minutely when her gaze lands on Luffy. "Why not disguise Captain-san as a woman?"

It takes a moment for Nami to realize the sheer brilliance of the idea. The Marines, believing Luffy to be male, won't look twice a teenage girl wandering around town. There's nothing they can do about Luffy's outrageous personality or Devil Fruit power, but with a little work they just might be able to pull it off.

"Robin," she says, gratefully clasping the woman's hands, "you're a genius!"

Robin says nothing, simply inclining her head in thanks. She follows Nami as the navigator charges Luffy, lending a few hands to hold their struggling captain in place as Nami wrestles her towards the women's quarters Robin and Nami now shared.

Once inside, Robin bars the door.

"Nami, Robin, what's going on?" Luffy swivels around to look at them both, frowning when Nami ignores her and begins digging through a closet full of clothes. "Robiiiiin."

"Patience, Captain-san. You will see soon enough," Robin says as Nami makes a soft sound of triumph and retreats from the closet, holding up a sundress for Robin's approval. She nods in agreement.

"Who's the dress for?" Luffy asks, more confused than ever.

"You." Nami advances on her, fists raised menacingly and expression determined. She'll have a peaceful twenty-four hours even if it kills her.

But Luffy backs away. "I don't wanna wear that! Shorts are better."

"Have you ever worn a dress before?"

Luffy wrinkles her nose as she thinks, and almost a minutes passes before she says, "Dunno."

Nami sighs in frustration, grabbing Luffy by the shoulders and steering her over to their vanity. "Strip."

"But-!"

"_Now_," Nami hisses, and Luffy, shivering in fear, does as she's told while Nami clinks around the table, searching through bottles and compacts and delicate wooden boxes filled with lipstick and eyeliner. Luffy isn't sure what they are, exactly, but she really hopes Nami doesn't want to use those tubes of stuff on her.

She peels off her vest and shorts, boxers too when one of Robin's arms blossom from the floor to tug on them. Luffy is standing there in nothing but her chest bindings when Nami turns around, and with a quick 'Robin', they join the pile of clothes as well.

"The dress, Luffy." Nami hands it to her. Luffy fiddles with it a moment before pulling it over her head, somehow managing to tangle herself into a hopeless knot which Nami and Robin have trouble removing her from. But eventually the dress is in order, settling comfortably across her chest and hips.

Luffy is maneuvered into a chair in front of the vanity, staring at the mirror while her nakama discuss something in whispers behind her. Nami picks up one of those dreaded tubes, squeezing the contents into her palm and then attacking Luffy's hair.

She squawks in protest, ready to leap from the chair. Hands, more than she can count, pin her. Unless Luffy wants to do real harm to Robin she's got no choice but to slump down and take it as Nami smoothes some kind of gel through her unruly black locks. Her hair seems to be doing the fighting for her; Nami presses and pushes and yanks, but it takes three more applications of the gel to coax it into laying flat.

"Ready to give up?" Luffy asks hopefully.

"Never," Nami answers, grim and more determined than ever. She tosses the gel aside and reaches for a comb.

Luffy whimpers, sinking lower in her chair.

Finally, _finally_, they leave her poor head alone and go for her face instead. Nami scrubs at her with a cloth, then smears a flesh colored cream over her scar with a thumb. Now that Luffy is no longer struggling, Nami gentles her attention, going so far as to drop a tender kiss on Luffy's forehead when her captain groans with the effort of keeping still.

"Almost done," she murmurs. Luffy relaxes a little.

True to her word, Nami brushes some weird power on her cheeks, has a quiet debate with Robin about her lips, and steps back.

Luffy looks in the mirror and blinks.

Robin chuckles at her obvious shock. "Shall we present you to the others?"

"Wait. Just one more thing." Nami grins devilishly, swinging a skimpy bit of silken fabric around her index finger.

Luffy is terrified all over again.

* * *

Usopp looks up as the door to the women's quarters swings open. He's curious as to how exactly Nami believes they can make Luffy appear feminine. Despite vivid, incredibly creative mind, he simply can't imagine Luffy actually looking like a girl, which should be ridiculous but somehow isn't.

Robin walks out first, Nami following after a moment, tugging their reluctant captain onto the deck.

He _knows_ it's Luffy standing there, but it takes quite an effort to reconcile the pretty girl sulking at the sky with his boyish, messy friend.

White cotton clings to her slender figure, highlighting slight curves normally hidden away by her baggy shirts and vest. The dress swirls around her knees in the tangy sea breeze. Her scar is gone, the patch of skin below her eye left unblemished by a generous application of concealer, and her disorderly hair tamed to frame her face in delicate black tendrils. Pale pink dusts the lines of her cheekbones.

"_Luffy?_" Usopp splutters in disbelief. It isn't until she says 'Yeah?' and tries to stick a finger up her nose - only to have it batted away by Nami - that Usopp accepts that this really is Luffy and not some vaguely recognizable double magiked out of thin air.

Sanji's reaction is far more extreme; he drops to his knees before Luffy, grasping for her hand and bringing it to his mouth to press a kiss to her knuckles. Usopp distantly notices they left her nails alone. Probably for the best.

"My lady," Sanji whispers, awestruck, "you must be a goddess descended from on high, your hair darker and more beautiful than the feathers of a raven, your lips -" He is cut short by Nami stomping on his skull, and Usopp turns to Zoro to see what the swordsman thinks of all this. Less than miraculously, Zoro is still sound asleep.

Robin - who had briefly disappeared during Sanji's mini breakdown - approaches Luffy with a floppy, wide-brimmed hat Usopp remembers from their nightmarish adventure on the Baron's island. The archeologist places it on her head, and Luffy immediately protests.

"I've already got a hat!"

"Your straw hat is too easily recognized. This one matches your dress," Nami says.

"But I don't wanna go anywhere without Hat," Luffy mumbles, reaching for the object in question, which Nami had taken from her before they'd forced her to change. The sundress itself isn't so bad, but to go on an adventure Hatless is unthinkable.

"Calm down! If you promise not to wear it, I'll put it in a bag to take with you."

"Okay, I promise," Luffy says, and Nami returns to the women's cabin, rolling her eyes.

Chopper, who's been silent until now, pats the edge of Luffy's dress and smiles. "You look really pretty!"

Usopp can tell Luffy is still utterly unconcerned with whether or not she's pretty, but she bends down to hug the small doctor in thanks.

"Now that all the fun is over, I'm heading out," Usopp says, waving to Luffy and Chopper as he shoulders his pack and levers over the side of the ship onto solid ground.

"Shall we get going as well, Doctor-san? I am certain we will find a bookstore on this island." Chopper perks up, excited at the prospect of new medical texts.

"See you later, Luffy!" Chopper hugs her again, and then he and Robin are gone.

Sanji emerges from the kitchen not long after, clutching a list and a folded stack of beli. Muttering about going on 'a quest for Nami-san', he too jumps from the ship, leaving Luffy alone with her slumbering swordsman. She props herself against Zoro's side to wait for Nami.

The navigator later pokes Luffy awake, handing her a black backpack. "Your hat and some money are in there." Luffy unzips the main compartment and sees her precious treasure tucked safely inside. "Remember what I told you. If you get in trouble with the Marines, I'm throwing all your meat overboard." Nami won't, but Luffy doesn't know that. Her captain nods solemnly.

"Before you go, drill this into your thick skull." Nami speaks intently, repeating herself until Luffy stops looking confused and starts smiling.

Before she straightens, Nami tapes a piece of paper to Zoro's forehead that reads 'Watch Merry or your debt is quadrupled', triggering a round of giggles from Luffy when the paper flutters every time the swordsman snores.

"Bye, Zoro." She snickers, dropping a kiss on his cheek. "Love you!"

"The concealer is waterproof, but don't push it!" Nami yells at Luffy's retreating back.

She watches Luffy until she's swallowed by the greenery lining the shore, mildly shocked by her sentiment. Luffy has kissed nearly all of them more than once, several times where Zoro could see - he's never shown even an ounce of jealousy.

"Do you know how she feels?" Nami asks the unresponsive swordsman. "Do you know _you_ feel?"

Zoro sleeps on, blissfully unaware.

* * *

The restaurant is really more of a bar: rowdy customers who smell of the sea, scantily clad waitresses smacking away wandering hands, enough alcohol circulating the tables to keep a small pirate crew drunk for a week. But they serve a mean cup of coffee and decent food, and Shanks prefers this sort of atmosphere. Fancy on the outside, a bit run down once you're through the doors; exactly what he'd expect of an island catering to both marines and pirates.

Shanks sets his empty mug down with a soft clink. A waitress, ample cleavage bursting over the top of her too tight dress, smiles invitingly as she refills it with a fresh dose of sweet caffeine.

When she sashays away, Ben shakes his head in a playfully mocking jibe. "Really, Captain."

"Aw, come on Benny. It's not my fault I'm famous," Shanks says, grinning at his first mate as smugly as he can manage. Being a well-known pirate with a enormous bounty had its perks.

Ben sips at his own coffee. "Only until they realize the great Red Hair Shanks is nothing more than a crippled old scallywag."

"You wound me, Ben." Shanks turns his undivided attention to his drink. Nothing like a friend who knows you too well to yank the swagger from your sails.

He looks up again when the door swings open, admitting shafts of afternoon light and a teenage girl dressed in white. Her hat - pulled low to hide her face - is pushed up as she glances around curiously. Every eye in the bar is on her as she heads for the counter, backpack dangling from one crooked elbow and sandals clicking against the scuffled wood floors, dropping onto a stool with legs not crossed but falling open. The hem of her dress hikes up to show off the sun kissed skin of her thighs.

She sets her backpack and hat onto the table next to her, revealing black hair that sticks up in all directions, and grins at the bartender. "Food!" she says. It's nearly a demand.

Now that Ben can get a good look at her, he notices she isn't quite as out of place as one would initially think. The way she sits, chin propped on her fists and her back turned to the crowd of hungry eyes, indicates either familiarity with the situation or a high level of obliviousness.

Her arms are unusually muscular for a girl. Perhaps she is simply confident enough to protect herself, a tomboyish confidence hidden beneath her flowery outfit.

Maybe he's over thinking the whole thing. As she yawns and scrubs a hand through her hair, Ben realizes there is something nostalgic about this girl. He looks to his captain, ready to ask if they may have met her before, and holds his tongue.

Shanks is staring intently at the new arrival.

From the moment she walked into the restaurant, his attention hadn't strayed. Unlike his base interest in their flirty waitress, the attraction Shanks feels is fierce and immediate, tinged with a niggling memory of childish laughter. She's far from the prettiest girl in the building. Yet -

He wants her in his bed, sweaty and tangled in the sheets. He _also_ wants to wrap his arm around her and just…hold on. He wonders how old she is. Practically an infant compared to him, he's sure.

A burly man with spider webs of ink tattooing his arms approaches her. He plants his hands to either side of her hips, boxing her in against the counter, and leans down to exhale alcohol tainted breath into her face. Ben sees her wrinkle her nose. The bartender places several plates of food on the table and hurries back to his sink of dirty dishes.

"Go away," the girl tells her drunk admirer. "I'm trying to eat and you smell gross."

Shanks snorts, amused by her brass balls. He stops when the man, scowling deeply and snarling in anger, seizes her by the throat. She doesn't flinch.

"Look here, bitch -"With his body and heart and mind all screaming at once in a cacophony of urgency, Shanks moves.

His abandoned chair is still rocking unsteadily when the man hits the floor, nose flattened and teeth loose in his gums. He splutters something unintelligible around a mouthful of blood and then keels over, unconscious.

The bar is filled with silence at the sudden violence, broken when the girl slams into Shanks' chest. Ben thinks she's trying to attack him, but then her arms come up to curl around his waist, his hand settles instinctively in the small of her back, and they are hugging instead.

"Shanks!" she gasps, eyes wild, a slow spreading expression of joy lighting up her flushed face.

That cry echoes across ten years and thousands of miles of sea, a sound easily recognized once heard.

Ben Beckman chuckles into his half-empty cup.

_Hello again, Luffy._

* * *

A/N - Alright, here's the deal with me.

Right now, I'm traveling with my parents on a cross-country roadtrip in our RV. This means unreliable Internet access and long periods of time when I can't use my laptop or iPad. Very little writing will get done until I return home in June.

After a year and a half in Toriko fandom - which is only just now beginning to exist - I've decided to try my hand at fic for that series. And you know what? I'm enjoying myself immensely. My brain is teeming with bunnies. A great deal of my interest is currently invested in Toriko and I don't expect that to change for a while.

Does this mean I'm giving up on Luffyko? Of course not, but this leads into my final reason.

Lately, I feel like I've been forcing myself to write RUTH. Now that it's become_ slightly_ popular, I feel the pressure to update often with long chapters, and that's just not working for me. I'm actually feeling _stress_ over a fic. That is not okay.

Give me a couple of months to indulge my Toriko bunnies. I'm still going to try updating once a month, but if I'm not feeling it, it ain't happening, my friends.

If you like my writing enough, go ahead and take this chance to catch up with Toriko. There are currently 140 chapters - I'm sure many of you could read that in only a few days - and a new anime, though said anime quality is still in question. The first episode is a crossover with One Piece. Ya can't go wrong.

Okay? My wrist hurts, so Imma go now. See ya next time.

Next chapter: Even though he doesn't recognize her, Luffy is overjoyed to be reunited with Shanks. But when this opens up a whole world of new opportunities, 'Luko' develops a different sort of bond with her supposed father figure.


	14. counterpart

Pairings (this chapter): Shanks/Luffy

Rating: PG-13

**Warning**: None, unless you count the age difference between Shanks and Luffy.

…Six weeks and this is all I have to show for it. I didn't know fandom focused writer's block was possible, but that's the only way to describe what I have.

I'll save my excuses for the ending author's note. For now, just try and enjoy.

11 - counterpart

He should have been expecting the fight - it's certainly that sort of establishment - but his distraction stems from the girl in his arm, curled around him as if it's the most right thing to do in all the world. Her smile is the same, as friendly and warm as the hug. The noise is rising like the tide, slow at first but gathering momentum, and Shanks is distantly aware of this. Ben is here, still sitting at the table Shanks abandoned to play knight in shining armor, sipping his tea and watching with a glint in his eyes that means hell later. They're safe.

So Shanks is free to concentrate on his newfound friend, who doesn't seem interested in letting go anytime soon. In fact she's snuggling in closer rather than pulling away, eyes half-lidded in apparent pleasure, almost sleepy in contentment. It's a feeling not unlike the raw joy of the sea.

He really must ask her name.

And he will, just as soon as he bats away the chair someone threw their way. Chaos is breaking out now, men deserting their mugs in exchange for violence, fists flying and furniture flying and spilled drinks slicking the floor, causing more than one patron to loose his balance and end up on his back with a bloodied nose or broken jaw. The girl blinks curiously at their surroundings, as unfazed by the outbreak of fights as she was to the stares crawling across her skin the moment she entered the bar.

Perhaps she's strong enough to defend herself, but Shanks still thinks this is no place for her. He glances around, catches Ben's eye - still calmly acquainting himself with that tea - and jerks his head toward the exit, making clear his intention to leave. Ben nods in acknowledgement, one leg sweeping out to catch a charging man unawares, though he doesn't rise to join them. Apparently his tea is worth waiting out the storm.

Shanks reluctantly peels the girl from his middle, grinning and sweeping a hand at the exit when she gazes at him questioningly. Realizing Shanks wants to vacate the premises, she grabs his wrist, leading him across the bar as if leaving had been her own idea. There are several discomfited shouts as a few of the more lustful pirates notice them moving through the mess. Four men approach, armed with broken bottles and splintered table legs.

"The girl stays with us. You'd like that, wouldn't you, sweetheart." Leers _oozing_ with licentiousness. Shanks experiences a spike of annoyance he aims to take out on their faces.

"I don't think so," he says, because they're nothing he can't take care of with a foot here, a punch there; the girl watches him take care of them, silent and appreciative. When the men are as unconscious as the first idiot he knocked out, she smiles blindingly, recapturing his wrist to continue their journey outside.

Outside is far more pleasant, quiet buzz of a busy, populated town instead of lewd men of the oceans. The girl lifts her head to the sky, seeking out the sun, inhaling deep lungfuls of the comparably fresh air. Then she freezes, turns back to the swinging bar door and steps from his side as if she means to go back inside.

"I didn't get to eat," she says, and her stomach gurgles loudly in agreement. She brings a thumb to her mouth and nibbles on the edge of it with intriguingly sharp canines. And then, "I forgot my hat too!"

She pulls away completely at this, disappearing into the bar before he can stop her and returning quickly and apparently unharmed, floppy hat now slapped carelessly on her head and backpack slung over a bare shoulder. "It's crazy in there! Nice work, Shanks."

Her smile is the cheekiest he's ever seen.

"Thanks for hitting that guy. I could've done it on my own, but seeing you punch him out was funny too." She scuttles in close to his side, arm tucked in tight against his cape. Brushing it aside, the girl reaches for his hand again, fingers locking around his as if they belong there.

They start to walk, and now they're out of that bar Shanks seriously considers just taking her home. Away from the dim lantern light, he gets a better look at her: black hair falling in loose tangles across her forehead, pink cheeks and pinker lips where her teeth chew on the soft lower curve, eyes wide and dark as she watches him in return, unperturbed by his lengthy observation. She's far younger than Shanks originally thought.

A little too young for even his piratical, shameless conscience to accept without guilt. Escorting the girl to her door and then slinking off to some other sleazy bar with every intention of drinking until he forgets this whole incident is really all he can do. Shanks wants her, sure, but he needs to be able to look at himself and see a man who lives to break laws, not a monster. Debauching young girls certainly won't help with that.

"Where do you live?" Shanks asks before he can change his mind. "I'll see you back safely."

She stops to stare at him, confusion written all over her face. "But I just got here! You've got to wait for your Log Pose to set too, right? Let's spend the day together." Her stomach gurgles again. "I wanna eat first." Briefly glancing wistfully in the direction they came from, her thoughts lingering on the meal she never got to taste, the girl does something rather unexpected: sticks her nose high into the air and takes several sniffs.

"There's food this way. C'mon, Shanks!"

Shanks lets himself be drawn down the street without protest. If the girl is waiting for a Log Pose, then she must have arrived on a ship. It's strange she's not a local - walking into a bar full of pirates one frequents makes a lot more sense than a lone girl on a visit - but where does that leave her? A trouble magnet wandering around town until nightfall.

Perhaps it won't hurt to stay with her, in that case. Odd, but he feels responsible for her, wants to protect her from scum with less scrupulous principles than his, accompanied by a bewildering mix of nostalgia, possessiveness, and parental affection. As sure as Shanks is he hasn't met his new companion before, she's achingly familiar.

And that's how Shanks finds himself seated at a small, open air café, half listening as the girl chatters on about whatever random things cross her mind: a passing woman with blue hair that reminds her of a friend left behind, her empty stomach, how cool it is they can still smell the sea this far into town, that her tea is too hot. They continue like this - her talking, Shanks chuckling at the aimless drifting of her attention - until their food arrives.

She orders breakfast for lunch, a heaping stack of chocolate chip pancakes dripping with whipped cream and served with an enormous plate of fried eggs, bacon, and sausage. The waiter sets two glasses, a pitcher of orange juice, and a pot of syrup she upends over the lot on their table before bowing away.

Slender as she is, Shanks doesn't think it's possible the girl can finish it all. But she digs in without hesitation, syrup smearing across her chin as she crams an entire pancake into her mouth, cheeks bulging with the excess of food. Shanks almost chokes on the scalding sip of coffee he takes at that moment, not because he's shocked by her rather incredible way of eating - though he should be - but rather because the sight strongly reminds him of Luffy.

It hasn't been long since Luffy last dominated Shanks' thoughts. The news of Luffy running rampant in Alabasta remains a hot topic on his ship, a source of amusement and pride for the crew who knew him back on Dawn Island. And it's like pieces of a puzzle sliding into place, the reason this girl is so familiar: she's painfully similar to Luffy.

The fly-away hair. Her ridiculous appetite. Her age and easy distraction.

_Her love of juice_, he thinks when she pours a glass of the pulpy yellow liquid and chugs it. Shanks laughs aloud at that, wishing Luffy were actually here, gulping down juice with his female counterpart, so Shanks could tease him for it. Ten years since he's last seen his boy…

The girl makes a vaguely inquiring noise around a mouthful of eggs. Shanks smiles and says, "You remind me of someone I knew a long time ago and look forward to meeting again."

She looks utterly baffled for a second, then shrugs and spears a sausage on the end of her fork. Before biting into it, she takes advantage of her momentarily empty mouth to ask, "What are doing here, Shanks?"

"I'm on my way to see an old friend. You've heard of Whitebeard?"

"Uh huh. My brother sails with him." Shanks blinks in surprise. Luffy's brother is the whole reason for his visit. "He told me Whitebeard is super strong. You gonna fight him?"

"He's the strongest in the world. But I'm not planning on starting any fights, don't worry," Shanks says, reaching out to pat her hand reassuringly.

"Wasn't worried," she states and returns to her food with gusto. Shanks realizes that mountainous pile of pancakes has vanished without a trace. All that's left are a few strips of bacon and an egg; she somehow managed to fit everything in her stomach.

He still doesn't know what to call her.

"May I ask your name?" Their hands are still touching. Shanks squeezes it and grins disarmingly, eager to hear the answer. If he's going to spend the day with her, they might as well get to know each other. It's a little disappointing he doesn't need to introduce himself - another pitfall of being famous.

Her fork clatters against the table, dropped from limp fingers. She's gaping at him openly, eyes so wide Shanks is sure it must hurt, and her face falls as if she's disappointed by his innocuous question. He's about to take apologize back when she mutters 'My name?', words so quiet they can't be meant for him. She frowns, first at Shanks and then the sky, her brow deeply furrowed like she's straining to concentrate.

Shanks is convinced he's not going to get a reply, but suddenly she meets his eyes and says, "Luko. My name is Luko."

* * *

A/N - This is so damn short and shitty quality on top of that. I'm _sorry_. But there are a lot of reasons why this is giving me hell.

Obviously one of them is because I'm fully integrated into Toriko fandom now, and nothing is going to change that. But I never had any intention of drifting away from One Piece. Except that's exactly what happened, isn't it? Damn, I hate this.

But there's another problem too. I've been waiting to write the Shanks/Luffy part of the story for so long that it's actually freezing me up because I want to get it right. I'm sure some of you have wanted to do something so badly but _couldn't_ because you need things to be perfect. That's what is going on with me now.

I'm also getting sick of having to work around canon, but there are parts I just can't skip over because they're necessary for character development in this fic. Post-Ennis Lobby, Thriller Bark, Impel Down and the War. The Straw Hat reunion. I still need to write all of those before I can get to the more original story lines rotting away in my head.

What I'm going to do is cut down on chapter length until my inspiration returns. That way you won't be waiting another six weeks for a pathetically short chapter.

Right, no more whining! I'm gonna do my best. Until next time, everyone~


	15. redux

Pairings (this chapters): Shanks/Luffy

Rating: PG-13

**Warning**: None.

'Sup!

...I got nothing to say. On with the chapter?

12 - redux (a different feeling)

Luffy revels in the feel of Shanks' hand settled across her own, large and rough with callouses when he squeezes her fingers. His smile crinkles his eyes at the corners with what will eventually be laugh lines. She can't wait to see which will make it to Shanks first: the straw hat in her backpack, or those tiny creases.

Distracted as she is by her Shanks-watching – it's been ten years since they've seen each other, and it isn't like Shanks hasn't been watching her _back_ – her body reacts to Shanks' last question before her mind fully registers the words. The fork clutched in her hand and her stomach both drop, though it's only the fork that crashes loudly as her mouth and eyes go wide.

_"May I ask your name?"_

Why ask such a thing? Unless-

Shanks…doesn't recognize her.

There's hurt buried under an avalanche of disappointment. She looks different, yeah, with the dress and hat-that-isn't-Hat and her scar disappeared like magic, but if anyone can recognize her under this girly disguise it's Shanks, right? That's what she'd thought.

What confuses Luffy the most is Shanks' reaction to her back in that bar; Shanks punching the shit outta that gross guy to protect some girl makes enough sense, but when Luffy threw herself at him, hadn't Shanks hugged back, holding her tight in welcome? Let her cling to him as they walked? And Luffy's pretty damn sure Ben recognized her. The first mate winked at her on their way out, saluting Luffy when she waved hello.

So, Ben knows her and Shanks doesn't. Luffy almost wants to huff in annoyance, maybe beat Shanks up a little. But now she understands what's going on, it's easy to figure out _why_ Shanks doesn't recognize her, summed up by a conversation she'd had with Makino years ago.

_"No one has seen you in years. You acted like a boy when it was difficult to physically tell the difference. They were…taken by surprise."_

_"They didn't realize?" Luffy scratches her head in confusion. Makino claims she acted like a boy, but she hadn't been anything other than herself. Well, she'd yelled about becoming the Pirate King a lot. "So that means Shanks doesn't know either?"_

_"He may not."_

As Luffy sees it, she has two choices: tell Shanks it's her, or sit back to see if Shanks will guess on his own and tease him in the meantime. 'Cause there's only one reason she can think of for Shanks saving her, letting her hang off him so familiarly. Luffy can't be sure, but the way Shanks looks at her is reminiscent of Ace and Zoro, and that's…looking at Shanks now, his laugh lines and the firm grip of his hand-

The ache of _want_ in the pit of her stomach isn't entirely unexpected.

This is an opportunity for fun. Luffy _never_ passes up on fun. Or revenge.

She still needs to answer Shanks. Luffy scrunches up her face as she tries to remember what Nami told her for this very sort of situation, just before she left the ship.

_"Luko," Nami says, gripping Luffy's shoulder to keep her from dashing off. "Your name is going to be Luko."_

_"…But my name is Luffy," she replies, frowning at her navigator. Did Nami forget or something?_

_Nami slaps a hand to her forehead. "There's no point in the disguise if you tell anyone your real name! So, just for today, you're Luko."_

_"But-"_

_"Luko."_

_"But!"_

_"LU-KO."_

_"Okay, okay." Luffy pouts, chewing on the inside of her lip. "What was it again?"_

"Luko!" She finally says aloud, pleased she remembers Nami's weird nickname. "My name is Luko."

Shanks surprises her by laughing, lifting Luffy's hand to his mouth and dropping a kiss on her knuckles. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Luko."

"What's so funny?" she asks, head cocked to the side.

"I said earlier that you reminded me of someone." Luffy nods, pouring another glass of juice. She's sad to see it's almost gone. "It's funny because even your names are similar, you and my boy, Luffy."

_Shanks is comparing me to me_, Luffy thinks, choking on her drink as her own laughter bubbles over even as she feels a rush of happiness at Shanks referring to her as his boy...though she isn't a boy. Still, being important to Shanks fills her with warmth.

While her stomach is only partially full, and she's loving just _being_ with Shanks again, Luffy is getting bored of just sitting at this café while there's an entire island to explore. Even if listening to Shanks talk to her about herself is hilarious, she wants to get out there and see what there is to see.

When she starts fidgeting with her cutlery, Shanks trails off, chuckling. "Was I getting long winded?"

"Yep!" Luffy says cheerfully. "But I don't really mind, and I'll bet Luffy wouldn't either."

Shanks smiles at her fondly, pats her arm, and reaches into his pocket as he stands. "Let's go, then." He sets a few beli down on the table and leads her out into the bustling street.

Luffy glances from Shanks to the money and back again. She can't remember the last time she paid for a meal, that's how deeply ingrained her childhood habit of eat-and-run has become. Ace isn't any different - it's something of a joke between them - and Luffy can't help but think of Sabo, how much she misses him.

She must've made some sort of noise, because Shanks ruffles her hair and asks, "You okay?"

"Mhm," she hums, and grabs his hand again.

They spend the next several hours just poking around town, sticking their noses into stores that catch their interest - mostly bakeries and stalls selling finger food - and eventually ending up in the park, which doubled as a beautiful garden overflowing with local and exotic blossoms. The best part is the beetles; Luffy zeroes in on three in no time at all, and Shanks shakes his head and accuses her of having radar for the smooth black insects. She offers Shanks one of her new treasures, happy to share, but the older pirate only glances at the bug she shoves in his face before he mumbles an excuse and makes a beeline for the opposite side of the park. Luffy is forced to - mournfully - leave the beetles behind or risk Shanks running from her the rest of the day.

When the sky is just beginning to tinge the faintest pink, Luffy spots a stall selling ice cream. She turns wide, pleading eyes on Shanks, though she already knows what his answer will be. If Luffy has learned one thing today, it's that Shanks can't say no to 'Luko'. It might annoy her, just a bit, except she's aware the reason Shanks has become attached is because he sees 'Luffy' in her, the child he met a decade ago.

She's perfectly okay with that. But Luffy also knows Shanks stands too close, smiles too much, touches her - hand on her hip, shoulder, neck as they lean close to investigate some interesting find - too often for his attachment to be purely platonic. There's a simple reason she can tell for sure: it's Ace all over again, those couple months before they had sex the first time, only Shanks is significantly less jumpy about it all. Probably 'cause he's older, which Luffy's kinda grateful for.

"Alright, alright," Shanks says, laughing at her cheer of victory as he dutifully follows Luffy to the stand.

Luffy all but plasters her face to the glass beneath which several different flavors of ice cream are displayed. There are twenty to choose from, a rainbow assortment of tastes, and it's almost too hard to make a decision; she very nearly orders a scoop of each. But there are a few in particular that catch her eye, and Luffy finalizes her choices while Shanks talks to the woman running the stall. He points to the largest cone - so large it resembles a funnel - and Luffy grins. 'Luko' or not, Shanks knows her well.

When the woman turns expectantly to Luffy, armed with the massive cone and a scoop, Luffy doesn't hesitate with her selections, jabbing at finger a tub of light green dotted with chunks of chocolate, "Three scoops!", another filled with a swirling mix of pink, yellow, and brown, "Two scoops!", and _ooh_ there are marshmallows in that one, "Two scoops!", and last but not least, chocolate chip cookie dough, "Three scoops!"

By the time Luffy's order is complete, the cone is piled high with a pyramid of cold, creamy heaven. Shanks is shaking his head in disbelief, but when Luffy accepts her prize, his voice is trembling with barely suppressed amusement as he creates his own, smaller cone.

Luffy waits until they're sitting together on a bench under a tree, shaded from the glare of the setting sun and partially shielded from view of the busy streets, to dig in. She frowns as she tries to decide where to start first. There's a spoon sticking out from her treat, and Luffy throws it over her shoulder dismissively. As far as she's concerned, eating ice cream with anything but your mouth, and occasionally your fingers, is breaking the sacred laws of dessert.

Offensive spoon disposed of, Luffy dives in for that first taste. Unable to choose which flavor she wants, she simply drags her tongue across all four of 'em, drawing her bounty into her mouth to savor the combination of mint, strawberry-banana, chocolate, and s'mores. Luffy makes a soft sound of pleasure.

With that out of the way, it's time to get down to the serious business of eating her way through all ten scoops. She starts at the top, licking at a mound of cookie dough with the tip of her tongue, intent on avoiding the bits of chocolate and raw dough for now. Those are best saved for when ice cream gets melty at the edges. It's a warm day so that shouldn't take long at all.

Luffy breaks away from her fixation on ice cream etiquette to check up on Shanks' progress with his own cone. Yet it seems as though he's only taken a few bites and left the rest to turn liquid; streaks of brown are dripping over his fingers. Puzzled, Luffy glances at Shanks' face, only to see he's transfixed by something. Luffy swipes a thumb across her lips to clean them of smears. Shanks' eyes follow the movement intently.

Curious now, Luffy fastens her mouth around a portion of banana split and _sucks_, watching as Shanks licks his lips in reaction.

It's kinda weird Shanks is enjoying this so much. Luffy doesn't fully understand why, but she knows this is a chance for revenge being handed to her on a silver platter.

"Shanks," she says, smile flirting at the edge her lips, "you're getting all messy!"

This seems to snap the older pirate out of whatever thoughts he's been entertaining. He blinks at his melting ice cream and the stickiness on his hand as if wondering where the hell it came from.

"Here, let me!" Luffy easily balances her cone between her thighs, leaving her hands free to take Shanks' cone from him and grab his wrist so he can't pull away.

She flicks her tongue against his palm, humming in delight at the sweet-salty flavor of rum raisin on Shanks' skin. Luffy laps at it eagerly; soon enough, his hand is clean and Luffy nuzzles at flesh slick with saliva before moving on to fingers dirty with ice cream soup, sliding two into her mouth. Shanks is protesting half-heartedly, pulling at the grip Luffy has on his wrist, not hard enough to get free. Luffy ignores him. Shanks is stronger than her, after all. If he really wanted her to stop, Shanks could force her to let go.

He isn't even really trying, so Luffy continues on. Nibbling lightly, hollowing her cheeks as she sucks, making sure there's nothing left but the taste of Shanks before switching to the other fingers and ensuring they get the same treatment. When Luffy reaches Shanks' thumb, whatever control Shanks managed to keep a hold on seems to shatter; he shoves his thumb deep, rubs it against her tongue until Luffy whimpers at how good it feels.

The sound has a visible effect on Shanks. He freezes, jerks back and inhales shakily, tugging at Luffy's grip on his wrist with enough strength that she lets him go. His pupils are blown wide in arousal, red hair clinging to his sweaty face. Luffy can tell she's pushed things as far as she can.

For now.

Really, she's gonna have to thank Zoro later - it's the swordsman habit of urging Luffy to suck his fingers during foreplay that gave her the idea.

Voice rough, Shanks says, "Think I'm clean now, Lu-chan."

"Looks like!" Luffy returns the now soggy cone to Shanks and focuses on finishing her own. The ice cream in her funnel-cone has been reduced to a milkshake, so she chugs it, chewing happily on the chunks left behind. The cone itself is devoured in no time at all. Shanks doesn't seem interested in eating his, so Luffy chows down on that one too, giving her hands a quick tongue bath when it's gone.

Revenge complete.

They sit together in silence until Luffy grins up at Shanks, who remains red-faced and off balance, and says, "What'd you wanna do now?"

Shanks looks conflicted. Luffy stares at him expectantly, struggling not to bust out laughing at his pained expression. It's getting late; he's likely convincing himself to send Luffy home just as he did when she was small, but can't because she isn't a child, hasn't been for three years. Honestly, Luffy doesn't know what the big deal is. Sharing as much of herself as her nakama - her family and precious friends and Zoro, who she loves _differently_, but no more, no less - will accept is only natural.

Luffy has loved Shanks all her life. Seeing him a decade later, that love also feels _different_.

It's simple, so simple to gentle her grin, tuck both her arms into the crook of Shank's own and press close. _Let's go home_, Luffy thinks, and isn't sure which ship she means and doesn't care.

Shanks exhales, warm breath stirring the hair curling across her forehead, free from the strange product Nami smothered it with. Mouth nestled against Luffy's ear, he whispers, "Ever been on a pirate ship before?

* * *

A/N - Welp, hopefully that was worth the wait.

All I can say is that roleplaying steals your soul _and_ your free time. All of it.

GUISE GUISE IT'S SCARY. Scary fun.

I would've had this finished earlier but I broke both my desktop and my laptop a few days ago, 'cause I'm magic like that.

Yep.

OH OH! Would you guys be interested in more Marco/Ace? A lot of people seemed to really enjoy the M/A flashback I wrote.

Shall I take requests and pick prompts for one or two short interludes? Hm, if there's something you wanna see, let me know. I'm not making any promises, but I feel like interacting with everyone a little more.

Buh-bye 'til next time.


	16. lady pirate

Pairings (this chapter): Shanks/Luffy

Rating: PG-13

**Warning**: None, unless you count the age difference between Shanks and Luffy.

…

Um, hi again?

I-

I'll just leave this here, shall I?

13 - lady pirate

This is probably the best way to end a day anywhere (besides, possibly, drinking himself into oblivion with his crew after a successful haul): taking someone pretty back to the _Red Force_ for a tumble. Luko is younger than Shanks usually goes for – or so he assumes, because he still hasn't asked how old she is, and considering what they have planned for the rest of the night, he'd rather not find out – and Shanks has certainly been with curvier, more beautiful women (and a few men) before, but there's just something about Luko he can't get over.

Actually, this is one of the few times he's taken a bed partner back to the ship. He'd normally end up at the other person's place or in a rented room, but Luko seems perfectly at ease with spending the evening on a pirate ship inhabited by an infamous crew. Shanks supposes it's another thing to like about her, this edge of carelessness.

He watches her openly now, free to admire what he'd told himself he couldn't have. They're walking along the beach, and Luko splashes happily in the surf, sandals in one hand and the bunched up fabric of her dress in the other. When the tide recedes, she squishes wet sand between her toes and laughs. There's something very freeing in simply being with Luko this way, and when a sudden breeze snatches at her hat, carrying it further down the beach, Shanks takes off after it with Luko hot on his heels. He doesn't run too fast and Luko manages to keep pace beside him, turning it into a race of sorts; by the time the wind dies and drops her hat onto the sand, they're both snickering like small children.

Shanks scoops it up first, brushes the grit off on his clothes before settling it back over her messy hair. Luko lets go of her dress and clamps a hand across her head to hold the hat in place - an action so immediate he thinks she must have been doing it for years - and then she grins up at him and it's so damn charming Shanks grabs Luko by the waist and presses a kiss to her cheek. She laughs, turns her head, and takes his mouth instead.

Lays claim to it, really, without so much as a hint of shyness or embarrassment. Luko has clearly been kissed before; Shanks isn't sure whether this is better than the clumsy innocence of inexperience he half expected or not, but then she bites at his bottom lip, sucks on it a little, and he decides right then and there that this is _much_ better. He doesn't need to teach her a single thing.

They separate when the rough sound of men shouting has them looking back the way they came. Shanks curses as they come into view, a group of men in unmistakable white and blue uniform. Because he's been too distracted to keep a sharp eye, there is now a Marine patrol heading towards them at speed. It won't be too much longer before they come close enough to recognize him as Red Hair Shanks.

He briefly considers taking Luko and making a run for it, but if those Marines continue much farther down the beach, they'll stumble across the _Red Force_ anyway, even though the ship is hidden by an outcropping of rocks when coming from this direction. If he fights, he can buy them a little more time.

Luko groans and clutches at Shanks' arm, the expression on her face more frustration than fear. "I'm gonna be in so much trouble. Stupid Marines…"

Shanks badly wants to ask what Luko could possibly have done to be in trouble with the Marines but dismisses it for the time being, pushing her back with a hand on her shoulder, gentle but firmly enough to communicate how important it is that Luko stay out of his way or risk getting caught up in the fight. To his surprise, she frowns and shrugs out of his grip. Shanks doesn't say anything, hoping he's gotten his point across, because they don't have any time left. The patrol is yelling his name.

Yet it seems Luko hasn't understood at all; in fact, she darts forward so quickly it takes a second for Shanks to realize what's going on. And she's not even running away to hide. No, Luko is charging straight into the midst of the attacking Marines.

Shanks tries to call her back, running after her with his sword half drawn, but he doesn't get more than a few steps before he's frozen by what might be one of the most shocking sights of his life. Even having sailed the New World, the disbelief that fills him when Luko's first punch connects with the jaw of a man nearly twice her size locks Shanks in place. The shock is replace by a sort of numb awe just as quickly when he's lifted clear off the ground and sent flying by the sheer force of her blow. Shanks isn't the only one completely unprepared for a slender teenage girl to start knocking people around like it's nothing – Luko manages to take out three more before the Marines even begin to react, turning their weapons on her instead.

He should really go help. He will, any moment now…except Shanks doesn't think he's going to get the chance. Luko certainly doesn't look like she needs his help; she dances between her opponents, light on her feet as she dodges sharp blades and pistol shots, each of the twenty-something Marines falling with just one hit; occasionally less than that, as Luko grabs two men by the ears and crushes their foreheads together so harshly Shanks can hear the crack of their skills splintering.

There's nothing numb about his awe now. His blood is heating, body readying itself to fight – a feeling not dissimilar to the one that seizes hold of him just before he engages a strong enemy – and it's most definitely not the Marine fodder that has his sword free of its sheathe. A heady mix of excitement and blistering lust sears along his spine as he watches Luko dispatch the last few men, sweaty thighs flashing as she spins and catches another in the throat with her heel, breasts heaving with the motion, eyes gone dark with determination. Her mouth twists in a wide, wild smile.

God, but he wants her. Wants to fight her, wants to fuck her-

The urge to is so raw and immediate, Shanks makes himself put his damn sword away before he does something he regrets. Luko is strong – she just took down a whole group of trained, armed men and isn't even out of breath – but not strong enough to hold her own against an Emperor. More than her current strength, it's Luko's potential he aches to test. There's _so much_, and he can see it all. Powerful women are meant to be respected.

The last Marine crashes to the sand unconscious, and Luko pads back to his side, pushing the brim of her hat away from her face. She cocks her head and waits for Shanks to speak, still grinning.

"I should have realized." Shanks almost feels like Luko deserves to get a free punch in – it's pretty damn obvious in hindsight. Luko walking casually into a bar filled with drunken men of the sea, so unconcerned with being grabbed, knowing who he was and idolizing rather than turning scared. Eating like a maniac. Playing with gross bugs most girls would scream at. Beating the crap out of those Marines like she does it every day. "Of course, you're-" Luko perks up, looking at him expectantly, "a pirate."

Luko's cheeks puff out in clear irritation, and for a second Shanks thinks he really is about to be hit, but then she smiles again. "I _did_ say I came here on a ship. My ship! I'm the captain of a pirate crew from East Blue."

Her eyes go wide and hopeful, but Shanks isn't sure what she's waiting for him to say, so he takes her hand and starts leading her back toward town. The _Red Force_ is going to be found sooner rather than later, and Shanks might very well kill anyone who tries to stop him from having Luko now. In town they can blend, find somewhere to spend the night…

"You have a bounty?" he asks, wondering if he's seen her poster before but simply set it aside. It's possible – Shanks has really only paid attention to those belonging to his own crew, pirates he's familiar with (if only so they can shit talk about the inevitable increase next time they cross swords), and Luffy's. The Red Hair pirates celebrated for three days straight when Luffy's bounty shot up to a hundred million. His boy is making waves, exactly like Shanks knew he would. As is Luffy's first mate; Shanks has a bet going that the entire Straw Hat crew will have bounties before long.

Luko nods enthusiastically. "Thirty million!"

"Not bad for a rookie." But Shanks frowns, something about the number and East Blue striking home a deep sense of familiarity. He observes Luko a little more closely for a moment – she stares back, unblinking, and he actually has to fight back the urge to turn this into a contest – and realizes with a jolt that thirty million is Luffy's previous bounty.

"Heh," Shanks grins, letting go of Luko's hand to slide his arm around her waist. "You really are just like my Anchor."

When Luko snuggles even more closely against his side at that, he thinks nothing of it.

* * *

There aren't a hundred Marines out searching for him when the reach the town, which he's grateful for. He supposes Luko hit them so hard none of the men have regained consciousness and contacted the base to tell them Shanks is running around the island.

They do run into one small group of Marines while searching for an out of the way hotel to hole up in, but when Shanks curses and glances around for somewhere to hide until they pass – not wanting to cause a ruckus by fighting because they're bound to be noticed – Luko shoves him down an alleyway and into a gap between two building. It's a close fit, even more so as Luko manages to squeeze in with him, but as far as temporary confined spaces go, he's been forced into worse. Much worse, because Luko is wedged so tightly against him Shanks can feel her every curve pressed to his chest and thighs. The straps of her dress have slipped, loose material pulled down enough to make it clear Luko is apparently no fan of bras, which explains why she's so…bouncy while fighting.

Shanks grits his teeth and does his best to ignore how soft her breasts feel, how they push hard against the unforgiving planes of his body and swell every time Luko breathes. They aren't big, but they're incredibly firm – a gift of youth – and Shanks just _knows_ they'll make for a perfect handful. Luko must be able to tell what he's thinking from the intensity of his gaze. Her cheeks flush, and for moment Shanks worries that he's embarrassed her, but her breath hitches and she hooks her fingers around the back of his neck and yanks him into a filthy, messy kiss. She has to push up onto her toes to reach at this angle, sliding along Shanks' front and dragging a hiss from his throat.

A dank back alley isn't the place for this; though the way she shifts her hips makes him think she won't mind if he has her right here, he wants Luko in a bed at the very least. His baggy clothes are all well and good, but pretty soon he won't be capable of running without difficulty. So he breaks the kiss and uses his hand to pin Luko to the rough brick wall.

"_Shanks_," she whines, but he shakes his head and frees himself from their little nook. A quick peek around the corner confirms that the Marines have moved on, and they dart out into the darkening evening.

Eventually he spots a hotel that charges by the hour as well as by night, which is exactly the sort of business they need – the bored looking young man recognizes Shanks but a bit of extra gold means he'll turn a blind eye to both the infamous pirate and his possibly underage companion. Shanks takes the offered key, only half focused on the room number hanging from the key ring, but they make it to the second floor, get the door open, and then Shanks stops thinking altogether.

He locks the door behind them, and by the time he turns around Luko is kneeling on the worn old bed and grinning in anticipation. Her sandals and hat are already on the floor. Shanks follows her over, kicking off his own sandals and shedding his cloak, sash, and sword on the way, playfully flattening Luko into the mattress. She giggles, apparently unfazed by his weight, and slides her hands beneath his shirt to brush teasingly across his stomach and the small of his back. He sits up, still straddling her, and has never been more grateful for not bothering with actually doing up most of the buttons because he has no patience left. Shanks tosses the white material somewhere behind him, but when he goes in for another kiss, Luko just barely responds. Her eyes are open, drawn to the stump that is all that's left of his other arm.

This is a bit of a turning point; all his previous lovers have either ignored it as best they could or started putting their clothes back on. But Luko once again proves herself different from everyone else – instead of shying away, she reaches out to touch his ruined arm, fingers careful and strangely hesitant.

"Does it hurt?" Luko asks, and for a split second she looks so sad and angry and frustrated Shanks is at a loss.

"Nah, this happened a long time ago. I told you about Luffy, yeah?" She nods. "I traded this arm for his life, and let me tell you, it's the best damn bet I'll ever make."

Her next smile is the gentlest he's seen so far, full of affection and happiness. This is something too intimate to share with someone who's basically a stranger, a one night stand, a pirate who may one day become an enemy, but Shanks doesn't find it at all odd to be telling her. Luko seems to understand.

She rolls them over, noses at his shoulder and trails kisses over the bandages, pulling them loose with her teeth. When they've unraveled enough to expose the bare, scarred flesh underneath, Luko rests her forehead there and says, quiet and sure, "Luffy definitely loves you."

Shanks means to say something in return, he does, because hearing that makes his heart stutter in his chest and he really shouldn't be mixing the things he feels for Luffy with _this_. It's so wrong, but-

Then Luko sits up and lets her dress fall.

* * *

The sun has already risen high in the sky, half drawn curtains filtering a warm golden glow into the sparsely furnished room. Luffy squints and turns away from the light when it falls across her face, but it's too bright for early morning; she remembers that Nami wants her back on the _Going Merry_ at a certain time (the navigator expects everyone to be ready to set sail as soon as she's sure the Log Pose is set) and even though she can't remember what time that is, exactly, Luffy figures she should get out of bed and go to her nakama. She doesn't normally care about time limits – especially since this bed is far more comfortable than the hammocks on _Merry_ and the arm draped around her hips means Shanks is still here – but Nami threatened her meat. Luffy will definitely, definitely die without meat, no matter how delicious Sanji's cooking is.

So she lets herself curl closer to Shanks for only a little while longer, both surprised and pleased her body is faintly sore from doing it so much the night before. The memories they've made – Shanks taking her in the bed and in the shower and against the wall as frantic shouting strained through the open window, every Marine on high alert now word had spread that the Red Hair pirates were docked here – will sustain her until their next meeting. When they'd taken a break, Luffy asked who was watching the _Red Force_; Shanks had murmured something about his first mate heading back early, and his sharpshooter, and knowing Ben and Yasopp were there made Luffy grin.

She's always missed Shanks, always hated to see him go when she was a child, watching him wander wherever the winds took him. But now she's the one leaving first, Luffy thinks with a snicker, and slips from their cozy nest of blankets to find her clothes. Her underwear is filthy, so she turns the backpack Nami gave her upside down and lets the contents spill onto the floor. The straw hat is there, along with her normal outfit, and Luffy happily changes into it (though the bandages are a bit of a struggle to tighten when she's still so sleepy), stuffing the underwear and her wrinkled dress into the pack instead.

Luffy holds the straw hat and the floppy hat Robin let her borrow, looks between them. At first she's just trying to figure out how to fit the large white hat into the pack without squishing it too badly – Nami will probably beat her up even though she thinks Robin won't mind – but then an awesome idea occurs to her. Settling the straw hat back on her head where it belongs (for now), Luffy grabs all her stuff, leaves Shanks with a kiss and an 'I'll see you soon' gift, and jumps out the window to the ground twenty feet below.

Everyone's already on _Merry_ when she arrives. Zoro is still asleep, though in a different place than where they'd left him, indicating he'd gotten up to fight at some point. Nami is livid.

"The Marines were running around searching for pirates all night! What did I tell you about lying low?"

"Sooooooooorry," Luffy says. "But it wasn't my fault this time. They were after Shanks, not me…"

Nami stares at her blankly, the name 'Shanks' taking a moment to sink in. "Red Hair Shanks? The pirate who gave you that hat?"

"Yep!"

"…Did you fight?"

"Y-yeah, but I wanted to show Shanks I'd gotten stronger-"

"You idiot!" Nami's fist connected with Luffy's skull, leaving the rubber girl rolling around the deck in pain, clutching her swollen head. "Now your Luko disguise won't work! The Marines will definitely remember a girl who's been seen with Red Hair Shanks _and_ beat up their men. Geez, you might even get another bounty because they'll assume you can give them information or something if they catch you…"

Luffy sits up, pain forgotten as she beams with excitement. "You mean I'll have _two_ bounties? SO COOL!"

Nami gives her a look teeming with disgust and stalks off, yelling for everyone to get their asses moving and make ready to set sail, kicking Zoro as she passes. Robin comes to stand beside Luffy instead, brushing her fingers over a fading bruise on the slope of Luffy's shoulder.

"Have a good time, Captain-san?" she asks, a small, knowing smile playing across her lips.

Luffy nods, grinning. "I missed Shanks a lot so it was really fun hanging out with him. But-" her words are punctuated with a yawn, "I wanna take a nap."

"Didn't get much sleep last night, hm?" Robin chuckles when Luffy shakes her head, then gives her a brief once over. "Captain-san…where's the hat I lent you?"

Luffy shifts her eyes to the wooden panels of _Merry's_ deck. "Um…"

* * *

Shanks wakes up alone. He doesn't open his eyes right away, instead feeling around the side of the bed where Luko _should_ be, but isn't. She hasn't been gone long – the sheets are still warm from her body, but when he lifts his head to check and see if she's somewhere else in the room, he knows immediately that she has left the hotel. All of her things are missing.

He groans and sits up, disappointed but not entirely surprised that Luko is gone. She's a pirate too, a captain, and therefore has her own crew to get back too and Marines to avoid. Still, waking together would have been nice. Might've even been able to get in one more round if they'd hurried. He flops back into the pillows, not quite ready to start the day despite the lingering annoyance of Marines trying to kill him. He needs coffee.

Something slides off Luko's vacated pillow and falls onto his ruined arm – the floppy hat he's come to associate with his lady pirate. Shanks grabs it, stumbling out of bed with renewed energy. The Grand Line is a vast and dangerous sea, but if luck is on their side, they'll meet again someday. And since Luko left her hat behind, she must be counting on it.

Making no effort to conceal himself on his way back to the _Red Force_ – and getting into quite a bit of trouble for it, but there's nothing like a good fight to get the blood flowing first thing in the afternoon – he boards the ship, whistling a jovial tune and waving to the crew rushing around to prepare for departure.

Yasopp leans against the railing, frowning down the barrel of one of his guns. Shanks shouts at him, "Is everyone back?"

The marksman snorts. "Of course - you're late as usual, Captain. We ready to get out of here?"

Shanks nods and heads for the kitchen, where he hopes Ben has coffee waiting for him. Sure enough, the strong smell of freshly brewed heaven greets him, and he groans in relief. Ben watches him over his copy of today's newspaper, though he doesn't say anything until Shanks swallows a few mouthfuls of the hot brown liquid. "How was she?"

"More incredible than she had any right to be," Shanks says, and Ben smiles as he takes a drag on his cigarette. "I'm sure she'll make it to the New World soon enough. Better keep an eye out."

Ben grunts in agreement, glancing at the hat Shanks is holding before turning back to his paper. "Who's is that?"

"Luko's. She was wearing it at the bar, don't you remember?"

The newspaper folds down so slowly Shanks is worried Ben has read something terribly disturbing, but the look on his first mate's face is what really scares him. "Luko?" He slowly draws the word out as if he's tasting it…and finds it offensive or hilarious or both.

"Yeah," Shanks says. A nervous sweat breaks out on the nape of his neck. There aren't many men who can make Red Hair Shanks shake in his boots, but Ben is one of them. "She said her name was Luko."

"Did she now?" One of Ben's eyebrows shoots up. He glances out the window, and Shanks wonders if his curiosity has been spiked. Perhaps he should be worrying for Luko rather than himself. "And you slept with her."

"Er…" Ben sounds as though he's already absolutely sure Shanks did, so he doesn't say anything.

A moment of tense silence stretch out, and then Ben bursts out laughing, cigarette falling from his mouth and paper dropping to the table. Shanks stares, deeply shocked for the second time in as many days, because he's never seen his cool, clever first mate laugh like this before, doubled over with tears in his eyes.

"What the hell is going on?" he demands.

Ben refuses to tell him what's so damn funny, but chuckles to himself every time they're together for _weeks_.

And Shanks is left feeling like the joke is on him.

* * *

A/N – And so Shanks has no idea the girl he just slept with was Luffy. Uh-oh…

To everyone who left a review asking me to update, I'm deeply sorry for the wait. I don't have any idea what happened to the last five months – they seemed to go by like magic.

Anyway, I'm back now. I won't make you wait a billion months for the next chapter, if anyone is still reading this thing.

Kinda sad I missed the one year mark for this fic, all the way back in November. Of course, the problem with time passing is that my writing (hopefully) evolved, and now I can't stand reading those early chapters. When I finish this damn thing, I'll go back and rewrite the first two at the very least. Cringing at your own writing is never fun.

Next chapter goes back to canon scenes, probably post-Ennis Lobby, Thriller Bark, and the Archipelago.

Then comes Amazon Lily, Impel Down, the fight to rescue Ace…

And the failure.


End file.
